The Thousandth Man
by Red Shoe Kitty
Summary: Jack Harkness has had any number of friends, lovers and associates over the years to whom he has been loyal and who have shown him loyalty in return but he has yet to find anyone who comes close to a shy archivist he meets at Torchwood One. Off canon - some chapters are dark
1. Chapter 1

But if he finds you and you find him,

The rest of the world don't matter;

For the Thousandth Man will sink or swim

With you in any water

From; The Thousandth Man. Rudyard Kipling

* * *

Ianto Jones rushed out of the lift and into the food court atrium that was at the heart of Torchwood Tower, London. He was late for lunch with his girlfriend Lisa Hallet. Ianto could see her at their usual table, two tuna pasta salads and two coffees before her, fingers tapping and casting impatient glances at her phone, checking the time. Ianto felt a small spasm of trepidation flutter in his chest. He loved Lisa and didn't like making her even a little bit unhappy. Even though they had been together nearly nine months now he still found it hard to believe that someone as totally brilliant as Lisa was going out with a nobody like him. He was so busy trying to catch Lisa's eye that he wasn't really concentrating on where he was going and so was completely disorientated to find himself suddenly plastered against a broad muscular chest.

'Whoa! Easy tiger!' an amused American voice buzzed in Ianto's ear. Ianto pulled back slightly to look into the face of the most ridiculously handsome man he had ever seen. Carefully styled soft brown hair flopped boyishly over a wide smooth brow and two impossibly blue eyes smiled into his own. A look of mild concern flashed over the perfect man's face, 'You OK?' Large warm hands grasped his shoulders steadying him.

Belatedly Ianto realised he was staring, with his mouth open. He tried to pull himself together, 'Yes, umm I –I umm, sorry, sir'

The American laughed 'Sir? Oh, I like you. What's your name, kid?'

'Jones, Ianto Jones'

'Well Jones, Ianto Jones, I'm Captain Jack Harkness. I'm gonna be stuck in this hell hole for a couple of months, how would you feel about being seconded to be my liaison with Yvonne Hartman, hmm?' He looked deep into Ianto's eyes and smiled, lowering his voice to a soft seductive purr he continued, 'how about it Ianto Jones? Do you wanna be on my team? '

'I…I…'

'Good' the large hands were gone from his upper arms and Ianto thought he would never be warm again, 'I'll be in touch' and Captain Harkness swept out of the food court, leaving Ianto standing alone, looking bemusedly after him.

* * *

'Oh my God!' Ianto had never seen Lisa so excited, 'do you know who that was?'

Ianto frowned, 'he said his name was Captain Jack Harkness'

Lisa thumped him on the arm, 'Yeah. Jack Harkness. He's the leader of Torchwood Three in Cardiff. No-one knows anything about him'

Ianto raised a sceptical eyebrow, 'he seemed fairly forthcoming to me' he said

Lisa shot a sharp and calculating glance at him, 'Really? Well, there are no records of him held here at Torchwood One, none at all, not electronic, not hard copy. No-one knows anything about him at all, not where he's from, what he is, nothing, well…apart from the stories, of course'

'What stories?' asked Ianto curiously

Lisa rolled her eyes, 'God being in archives must be like being on another planet. Everyone knows that Jack Harkness will shag anyone and anything'

Ianto snorted 'Anything?'

'Yeah' Lisa chuckled at the memory, 'The story goes that the first time Director Hartman met him, she was late leaving her previous meeting. When she got to her office Captain Harkness was sitting in her chair, feet up on her desk, wanking himself silly'

'No' Ianto was equally horrified and titillated

'Yeah. Apparently he made her wait until he'd finished and then he came all over the agenda she had printed out for their meeting and stained the leather inlay of the desktop'

'Bloody hell' Ianto was more than slightly impressed, he had always found Director Hartman to be a terrifying woman but if anyone was going to bring her down a peg or two he could easily believe it would be Jack Harkness.

'Wait there's more' Lisa's chuckle had evolved into a full blown dirty laugh, 'She went ballistic at him, how dare he etc and he just laughed and said he had a low boredom threshold and that if she wasn't going to be on time then he would have to entertain himself however he could. Anyway, next time they had a meeting scheduled, Director Hartman told her PA that on no account was the Captain to be left alone in her office. Unfortunately, as it turned the Director was delayed again and this time she was really, really late, like forty-five minutes or something. So, she walks into her office and the Captain is there with a member of the Bannash royal family who was on a diplomatic visit to the planet. The Bannash is on its back on the director's desk, it's got three of its tentacles fucking the Captain's arse, the Captain has his cock in its cloacae and the Directors PA is on her knees sucking his balls. The Director lets out a scream that was heard all the way down in engineering and the Captain just looks over his shoulder, grins and says "always room for one more" and carries on fucking the Bannash princeling '

Ianto snorted his coffee as he laughed, 'He's got chutzpah I'll give him that' he said, 'but he's not likely to turn up in the archives thank god. He's someone else's problem'

* * *

The following day, Ianto was working at his desk in the archives section updating the species database in the light of information obtained from a recent off-world visitor to Torchwood Tower when his phone rang. Ianto eyed it suspiciously, his desk phone never rang, most people preferring to communicate via e-mail.

'Hello, Ianto Jones'

'Ah Ianto, ' it was Karina Johnson, Yvonne Hartman's scary PA, 'The Director would like to see you'

Ianto felt his heart sink, had Captain Harkness complained about him? He knew his behaviour yesterday had been less than polite. He licked his lips, his mouth felt dry and cottony.

'When?' he croaked.

'Right away' said Karina, 'she's waiting for you now, better get up here fast.'

Heart pounding Ianto stepped out of the lift and walked down the corridor to Hartman's office, the passageway felt at least a mile long, Ianto was certain he was going to be fired and he felt the old self hate and insecurities beginning to coil in his gut. This would be just another thing he had fucked up, his relationship with his dad, with Geraint his only boyfriend, with his sister. Oh God, Lisa would leave him. By the time Ianto had reached the imposing door that led into the Directors office suite he was pale and shaking.

Karina looked up as Ianto sidled into the antechamber where she guarded the entrance to the Directors inner sanctum. She gave Ianto a curt nod and rose sinuously from behind her desk. Tall and blonde, she was a walking ice queen, never less than immaculate, she was as formable as the woman she worked for. She always made Ianto feel as if he had dirt on his face or spinach on his teeth. The telephone call that had summoned him here was the most she had ever spoken to him. Walking up to double doors she knocked, opened them both, and saying 'Ianto Jones, Director' and stepped to one side to allow Ianto to enter.

At first all Ianto could see was Yvonne Hartman, sitting behind her desk with a thunderously furious expression on her face.

'Mr Jones,' she said coldly, 'I must admit that you have escaped my notice up until this point. I have looked over your employment records since you joined us here at Torchwood and you seem a competent, if unexceptional, employee.'

Ianto wasn't sure what to say so he ducked his head shyly and murmured, 'I try to do my best Ma'am'

'Hmm' Hartman's tone suggested that she strongly doubted that, 'however, it would appear that Captain Harkness has spotted something about you.'

For the first time, Ianto noticed that Jack Harkness was seated off to one side, his booted feet resting upon a small coffee table; he gave Ianto a friendly wave. Ianto had to struggle to stop himself from waving back. _What is it about that man_ he thought, _how on earth does he get away with it?_

Director Hartman cleared her throat, 'Captain Harkness is going to be working with us here at Torchwood Tower for the next few months, helping us catalogue some of our more obscure artefacts. He has requested that you be assigned to him as his assistant.'

'_**Personal **_assistant' interjected Jack with a broad smile and a wink. Yvonne Hartman threw a withering glance in his direction; it seemed to bounce right off the man's charisma.

'I'm not ordering you to do this Mr Jones' Hartman continued, 'however, if you feel able to oblige me in this I would be...' she made a face as if she was swallowing a live slug, 'very grateful.'

Ianto looked at Jack Harkness, _god the man was beautiful_, Harkness smiled at him again, his eyes sparkled with mischief, 'C'mon Yan, whaddya say. I think we could have a lot of fun together.' Hartman coughed and Jack tore his gaze away from Ianto's face, 'I mean we could make a real difference to the archives.' His air of enthusiastic work ethic was slightly ruined by the mischievous grin hovering at the edge of his mobile mouth.

'If Captain Harkness thinks I can be helpful to him' said Ianto carefully, 'I would be happy to oblige, Ma'am'

Yvonne Hartman turned to Jack, 'Very well, Captain, it would appear that you have your assistant...'

'Personal assistant' insisted Jack, again.

Hartman tutted with annoyance, 'If you will excuse me, Captain Harkness, I would just like a quick word with Mr, Jones before I officially reassign him to you.'

With feline grace, Jack twisted himself to his feet and sauntered over to the door, 'I'll wait for you outside, Mr Jones' he laughed, 'until Yvonne has finished telling you that she wants you to spy on me.' He paused in the doorway and threw the Director a kiss, 'Yvonne, It's been as wonderful as ever. Try not to look at my arse as I leave.'

'That man is impossible,' huffed Hartman, as the door closed behind Jack then she scowled at Ianto, 'I want you to send me a report every two weeks Jones,' she ordered, 'more often if anything 'unusual' happens or if you find out anything at all about Captain Harkness.'

Ianto straightened, heart pounding, he couldn't believe he was going to stand up to Yvonne Hartman, 'With respect, Director, I'm not comfortable with doing that'

Hartman snorted, 'I don't care about what you are comfortable with, Jones. Torchwood is not a democracy, you will send me regular reports or you may find that your career and that of the lovely...Lisa Hallett, isn't it, may be going in directions you definitely will not be "comfortable" with. Do I make myself clear?'

Ianto's brief mutiny died, 'Yes, Director,' he said resignedly.

'Excellent' The slivery tinkle of Karina Johnson's laugh filtered through the office door and Hartman winced, 'now take that man away before he debauches my receptionist.'

'Yes Ma'am'

As Ianto left the Director's office, he noticed that Jack Harkness was now sitting behind Karina's desk with a very strange expression on his face. Ianto raised a quizzical eyebrow, 'Sir?'

'Oh...uh...Ianto. Finished so soon?'

Ianto nodded, 'It wasn't much of a conversation to be honest, Sir' Jack groaned and leant back in Karina's chair, 'Uh...are you alright, Sir' asked Ianto with some concern.

'Oh yeah' gasped Jack, 'Oh God, yeah!' He collapsed boneless and panting, eyes closed. Then he shook himself and jumped to his feet, gifting Ianto with a glimpse of an impressively thick and long cock which he tucked into his pants before bending down and politely helping Karina out from under the desk. Ianto blushed furiously; he didn't know where to put himself. Jack leaned forward and scraped the small trail of semen trickling from the corner of Karina's mouth onto his finger. He offered it to the PA who eagerly sucked the finger between her lips. Jack smiled, pulled his finger from between the woman's lips and pulled her into a kiss that clearly involved more tongue than Ianto was comfortable witnessing.

'Karina, always a pleasure' Captain Harkness smiled at the dishevelled PA with what appeared to be genuine affection. He slid stylishly across the desk and put his arm around Ianto's shoulders, 'C'mon Mr Jones, we have work to do' As the captain's hand slipped from his shoulders and trailed down his body to cup his left buttock in a friendly fashion, Ianto wondered exactly what he had got himself into.


	2. Chapter 2

Ianto stood in front of the mirror in the bedroom he occasionally shared with Lisa tying his tie. Lisa was sprawled on the bed watching him.

'Mmm, the charcoal suit and the red shirt and tie' she noted, 'Ianto Jones are you trying to impress Captain Harkness?'

Ianto blushed, 'I like to look smart' he said defensively

'Well, that should do it' commented Lisa appreciatively. She stretched luxuriously across the bed, 'Oh babes, this could be it for us.' Ianto raised his eyebrow in the mirror as Lisa continued excitedly, 'If you give the Director the information about Harkness that she wants we will be able to pick whatever jobs we fancy at Torchwood. You could be Head Archivist if you want, I could replace that bitch Karina Johnson as the Directors PA. It's going to be so easy, find out as much as you can about the freak, give the Director what she needs to control him and we have it made!'

Ianto frowned, 'You agree with Director Hartman?' he asked, 'You think this is an opportunity to ferret out information about a man who clearly does not want anything known about his past, you think I should pretend to be a colleague, a friend and betray him to someone like Yvonne Hartman?'

Lisa laughed, 'why not? Besides, it's possible that he's not even human.'

'That's what you think is it?' Ianto swung round to stare incredulously at his girlfriend, 'You believe the Torchwood mantra, if it's alien, it's ours?'

'Why not?' Lisa sat up and crossed her arms over her breasts, scowling.

'The man is Head of Torchwood Three,' said Ianto, 'They sit right on the Rift. He and his team have saved this country, this planet more times than can be reckoned. He's part of the same organisation we are, he's not our enemy.'

'Ianto, I hope you are not going to be stupid about this. Christ, you only met the man three days ago. Maybe you need to think about to whom you owe your loyalty.'

'Hartman? I don't think so' Ianto was dismissive

'I meant me, us' Lisa was really furious now as she could see the glittering future she had been fantasising about slipping away from her just because Ianto fucking Jones had a conscience. 'Ianto sweetie,' she climbed off the bed and wrapped herself around him, 'we are good together, you know we are, you need me, don't you.'

Ianto looked at her speculatively, 'I thought I did' he said slowly, 'but then I thought I knew you, too. This is side of you I haven't seen before.'

Lisa frowned, this did not suit her at all, 'Ianto, baby,' she tried again nuzzling into his neck and biting gently on his ear lobe.

Gently Ianto disentangled himself from Lisa's embrace, 'I have to go,' he said stiffly, 'I don't want to be late. Let yourself out, yeah?'

Lisa tried one last time, 'shall we go out tonight? Celebrate you first day working for the Captain.'

Ianto shook his head, 'Not tonight,' he said, 'I'm not sure how late the Captain will want me to work.' He kissed Lisa on the cheek and headed out of the door. It's probably best if you stay at yours tonight, I'll call you tomorrow, OK?'

Lisa sat back down on the bed, chewing her lip. She heard the front door slam and made her decision. Fumbling in her handbag she pulled out her mobile phone and dialled a number,

'Hello, Karina? It's Lisa Hallett, could I get an appointment with the Director today?'

* * *

Jack Harkness bounced, there really was no other word for it, into the tiny, windowless office that had been allocated to him for the duration of his secondment to Torchwood One and then stopped short, a frown marring his handsome features. The room had been emptied of the shabby furniture that it had previously contained and had been returned to its previous incarnation which was that of photocopying room. Jack looked round, he was all alone, _may as well photocopy my butt_ while I'm here he thought with an evil grin _I think all the lifts need brightening up a bit and that should just about do it,_ but as he moved toward the photocopier he noticed an envelope, with his name on it, taped to the cover of the machine. Jack ripped open the envelope and a smile crawled across his face as he read;

_Sir,_

_I find that by some form of administrative oversight you have been allocated an office that is significantly below your pay grade. I have taken the liberty of liaising with estates to rectify this and have moved the files you were working on to your new accommodation. I have also taken the liberty of requisitioning some filing cabinets which I trust your will find more efficient that your current system which appears to be plastic carrier bag based._

_Your new office is 1501, a key card is enclosed_

_Respectfully_

_Ianto Jones_

_P.S - Although I generally do not pay any attention to gossip I feel I must entreat you , if alone in what is now the photocopying room, to restrain yourself from photocopying parts of your, admittedly impressive, physique. Some things are better shrouded in mystery._

_I.J_

'Oh Ianto Jones' Jack laughed out loud, 'I am gonna enjoy working with you.'

* * *

Ianto was making his way into Torchwood Tower carrying a large bunch of lilies. The lift doors were just closing.

_Bugger_ he thought before raising his voice and calling 'Could you hold the lift, please?' A familiar, slim, dark hand appeared between the closing doors; _double bugger_ thought Ianto as he sidled into the lift and stood next to Lisa

'Those for me?' asked Lisa with a grin gesturing towards the flowers.

Ianto blushed and looked down at the floor, 'er...'

Lisa burst out laughing, 'Oh my god! You bought them for the Captain. You are such a girl'

Ianto bridled, 'I've had him moved to an office that is more commensurate with his seniority, it needed a finishing touch and I thought...' his voice trailed off and he noted with relief that the lift had arrived at his floor. He gave Lisa a weak smile, 'see you later' he said and thankfully made his escape.

* * *

Jack stalked cautiously down the corridor to room 1501. _Christ, this is a corner office_ he told himself as he swiped the key card and stepped through into the impressive, huge office with floor-to-ceiling windows on two of its sides and a magnificent view over London. An incandescent smile plastered itself across his face as he saw that the exquisitely attired Ianto Jones was already working diligently at his desk, which was set at right angles to the enormous desk which was clearly Jack's. Two crystal vases of lilies were set upon low coffee tables and one wall was taken up by a huge red leather sofa. A bank of filing cabinets was placed at either side of the doorway.

'Ah,' Ianto looked up and smiled, 'Morning, Sir. Can I get you a coffee?'

'Yes, please' said Jack turning to appreciate the view as the delicious Mr Jones left the room.

When Ianto returned with a tray holding two mugs of freshly ground coffee and a thermal jug with extra coffee supplies for later, Jack was laying full length on the sofa, hands clasped behind his head, he grinned at Ianto,

'This place is amazing, Mr Jones. YOU are amazing for sorting this out'

Ianto blushed, 'Just doing my job, Sir'

Jack laughed, 'Well you have excelled yourself with this office, I can tell you' he stretched languorously, 'This sofa could easily accommodate two, don't you think?'

Ianto gave a tight smile, 'Possibly, Sir'

Jack rolled onto his side and shifted towards the back of the settee, he patted the leather cushion invitingly, 'c'mon, try it'

'I'd rather not, Sir' replied Ianto

'Don't make me make this an order'

Rolling his eyes, Ianto moved to the sofa and lay down, holding himself rigidly and resting right on the edge as far away from the Captain as possible. He felt Jack move behind him. 'Relax' Jacks voice was soft in Ianto's ear; his arm snaked over Ianto's hip and a large warm hand splayed across Ianto's belly. Ianto closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on his breathing.

'Uh, I think that's harassment, Sir' he choked out

Jack laughed his warm breath ghosting on Ianto's skin making it prickle. By instinct or luck his lips were brushing that spot on the nape of Ianto's neck that Geraint had only discovered after weeks of experimentation and Lisa had never found at all. 'Gods, those welsh vowels do things to me Ianto Jones. I think I'm the one being harassed here.' Ianto could feel Jack's erection pressing insistently against his buttocks and he couldn't stop a small moan escaping as Jack's lips rested on that spot on his neck again. 'Tell me you don't want this' whispered Jack, 'tell me to stop and I will.'

'stop...please.' Ianto's voice was so quiet he wasn't even sure he had spoken aloud but Jack's hand retreated and his warmth withdrew slightly from Ianto's back, 'I don't want this.'

'Are you sure' Jack's hand brushed teasingly over the erection that was tenting the front of Ianto's trousers, 'because this would suggest otherwise.'

Face flaming, Ianto rolled off the sofa and scrambled to his feet, 'this is unacceptable, Sir' he stammered, 'if we are going to work together, we...I...shouldn't'

Jack smiled at the flustered young man reassuringly _shouldn't_ he mused,_ not can't, not won't. I was right, there is potential here_. He let his smile broaden into a dirty grin and he gestured to his own erection, 'well,' he said lazily, ''I'm gonna deal with this right now so unless you want to help...'

The slap of Jack's hand on his own heated flesh and his throaty moans followed Ianto as he fled from the office to bring the first lot of artefacts up from the archives.

* * *

Ten floors up from Jack's and Ianto's office, Lisa was being shown into Yvonne Hartman's office and being greeted by the director's standard crocodile smile.

'Ms...Hallett?' Yvonne made a point of checking her tablet as if to reinforce to Lisa that she was so unimportant that the Director didn't even bother keeping her name in her mind, 'what can I do for you?'

Lisa matched the Directors smile with one of her own, 'Actually Director, it's more about what I can do for you.' Yvonne raised one sculptured eyebrow and Lisa pressed on, 'I'm Ianto Jones' girlfriend. I know you have put him to work with Captain Harkness from Torchwood Three. I know you have asked him to spy on the Captain and report to you anything he finds. I also know that Ianto has decided that his loyalty is to the Captain before you, Ma'am'

Hartman slammed her hand onto the desktop, 'That blasted man!' she exclaimed, 'Is there no-one he can't seduce?'

Lisa coloured, 'I don't think, Ma'am...' she began defensively

The Director laughed, 'Oh please,' she said, 'don't try to fool yourself, gay or straight it doesn't matter, if Harkness want your boyfriend he'll have him sooner or later I guarantee it.'

'That's beside the point' said Lisa smoothly, 'I'm bored with Ianto and I don't care if he fucks him from now until doomsday. What is important is that, as his "loving girlfriend", Ianto is more likely to talk to me about Captain Harkness than you.'

Hartman raised her eyebrow one more, 'and...?' she queried

Lisa smiled '...and I am happy to talk to you.'

The Director reached into her desk drawer and pulled out a mobile phone, 'This is already programmed with my secure personal phone number,' she said, 'and an e-mail account has been set up on it also that allows you to communicate directly to my protected account. Anything you send to me from this phone is unhackable and untraceable. Do not use any other tech to communicate with me but this, no computers, no tablets and definitely not your own phone. If Jones tells you anything, anything at all I want to know what it is. If you do this for me I will, in the fullness of time, be very, very grateful. Do we understand each other?'

Lisa smiled and took the phone from Yvonne's outstretched hand, 'We understand each other perfectly' she said.


	3. Chapter 3

Jack was stretched full length on the red leather sofa, of which he had become inordinately fond, reading through a file of reports that had been forwarded to him from his team in Cardiff. He was comfortably propped up with cushions and had one hand resting on his abdomen as he scrolled through the documents on his laptop. Ianto was working at his own desk updating the archives database based upon the information that Jack had supplied and messaging with Toshiko Sato in Cardiff as he quietly transferred copies of the data to Torchwood three's archive database also. Although he hadn't yet met Dr Sato face to face they had become quite good friends in cyberspace;

_Tosh; how is Jack? Is he behaving himself?_

_I.J; at the moment, yes...but how do you cope with him shagging anyone was walks by? I'm afraid to walk into the office without knocking and what is it with that man and stationery cupboards? I've caught him at it twice today and it's not two o'clock yet!_

_Tosh; He is a bit more restrained on his home turf, Ianto _

_IJ; really?_

_Tosh: I shouldn't tell you this but...Jack always makes sure he is a bit more...Jack like when he has to be in London._

_IJ; he puts it on? Why?_

_Tosh; c'mon, think it though. What does Jack think about Torchwood One?_

_IJ; he hates it and everything it stands for. So?_

_Tosh; who dictates what it stands for?_

_IJ; the director. Wait, are you saying he behaves like a slut just to annoy Yvonne Hartman?_

_Tosh; that's right. He says it's a win-win for him. He gets loads of great sex and pisses off prissy pants Hartman at the same time. _

_IJ; the man is a god to me!_

_Tosh; LoL. Gotta go, speak soon_

Logging off from the conversation, Ianto surreptitiously raised his eyes and indulged himself, gazing at the Captain. Ianto had been working with him for a two weeks now and was becoming increasingly impressed with the man, he was articulate and intelligent and, despite his outrageous behaviour to everyone else, apart from that first day, he had not attempted to harass Ianto at all; a fact that Ianto was daily coming to regret. Now in the peaceful quiet of their office, with Jack's attention fully engaged on his laptop Ianto felt free to feast his eyes on what he had come to believe was the most gorgeous man he had ever met.

_He is so very beautiful,_ mused Ianto as he ran his eyes over the oblivious Captain. Ianto could never look at Jack without wanting to tangle his fingers in his hair, it always looked so soft and Ianto wondered if it smelt as good as the rest of Jack did. Ianto didn't know how it was that Jack smelt so wonderful but his scent was intoxicating. Watching the man Ianto let his mind drift back to the first day in the office when Jack had made him lie down on the now ubiquitous red sofa with him. He remembered the weight and warmth of Jack's large tanned hand as it rested on his belly and the moist wash of Jack's breath on his neck. His eyes glazed over as he replayed and re-wrote the scene in his mind.

In his head, he didn't almost throw himself of the couch when Jack released him. Instead he turned to face the Captain and lost himself in those bright blue eyes. He allowed himself to be drawn closer to the man's heat and held tightly against the broad chest. He imagined himself running his hands down Jack's back to those pert buttocks and pulling his hips closer to allow their erections to brush against each other. He pictured himself leaning in to capture Jack's luscious mouth in a teasing, tantalising kiss which would leave the older man breathless and whispering his name.

'Ianto? Ianto'

Ianto dragged his mind out of his fantasy and back to reality, 'Sir?' Jack was looking at him with pleading puppy dog eyes, Ianto knew all too well what that look meant, he sighed, 'more coffee, Sir?'

'Please' smiled Jack, 'if it's no trouble.'

Ianto smiled back, 'none at all.'

* * *

As he was heading down the corridor to the small kitchen attached to their office suite, the lift doors slid open to allow the post boy to exit with the mail cart. As Ianto threw a smile and a wave at Eugene he was sure he caught sight of Lisa. _Where is she going_ he wondered, _she has no reason to be above the seventh floor._

Lisa was feeling uncharacteristically nervous. She had been so confident of success when she had first gone to see Yvonne Hartman but Ianto had been working with the weirdo freak for a fortnight now and not only had she only seen him about three or four times, he had been remarkably tight lipped about his new job and he had only allowed her to stay overnight with him once. She didn't really care if their relationship was ending but unless she found out something soon she didn't want to think how the Director would react.

* * *

Ianto carefully manoeuvred his way back into the office carrying a large tray full of coffee and the special almond and pistachio biscuits that Jack loved so much. Ianto had bought them in on their first day of working together and Jack had gone mad over them and begged Ianto to ensure that they always had some in the office. Ianto hadn't told Jack that the biscuits were not store bought so now he baked a fresh batch each night to take in for the Captain's pleasure every morning; he wasn't sure what that said about him. With their mail tucked under his arm he was unable to knock as he usually did. Ianto had quickly learned that giving Jack warning that he was about to re-enter their office was essential if he didn't want to have to repress too many mental pictures of bare flesh, groping, grasping fingers and spurting ejaculate. It was a lesson he seemed to be about to learn again. Ianto stood, shocked in the doorway as he took in the image of his boss in what seemed to be a passionate embrace with Ellie, the very young girl who worked at the local deli and sandwich shop and delivered their lunch every day. Ellie looked round and caught sight of Ianto, she waved

'Hi Ianto '

Ianto swallowed heavily, 'Ellie'

The young girl leant in for another huge hug and planted an enthusiastic kiss on Jack's cheek, 'Thank you so much, Jack' she said, 'I can't thank you enough for what you've done for me.'

Jack smiled, 'Ellie, it was my pleasure. I'll be in touch, yeah?'

'I'll look forward to it, oh Jack I do love you!'

'Love you too baby – go be brilliant'

'Byeee.' Ellie laughed and almost danced her way out of the office.

Ianto walked in stiffly and out the tray down on the table nearest to where Jack had settled himself back down on the couch, 'Your coffee, Sir' He picked up his own mug and began to move back towards his desk.

Jack frowned, 'Ianto? Not joining me?'

Ianto shook his head, 'work to do, Sir'

'Yan? Have I upset you in some way? Are you mad at me for some reason?'

Ianto could not contain himself, he told himself it was because he was genuinely concerned for Ellie, not jealous that she had captured Jack's attention somehow; but nonetheless his temper flared, 'Jesus Jack! What the hell did I just walk in on? I mean, Ellie? She's young enough to be your daughter! God I've seen enough in the last two week to realise that the rumours about you don't even come close but...Ellie? She's barely 17!'

Jack looked stunned, 'What?'

Ianto turned to face him, 'There are over 850 people employed in this building, any one of them would be happy to be shagged by you, why did you have to pick on an innocent child.'

'That's what you think I was doing?'

'Isn't it?'

'It's none of your business. What do you care anyway? You made it crystal clear that you aren't interested in anything I have to offer you!'

'What?' Ianto couldn't believe that Jack was making this about him, 'This is nothing to do with how I might or might not feel about you! I care because I care about Ellie'

Jack snorted in disbelief and fished his mobile out of his pocket; he dialled a number, holding one finger up in the air to indicate to Ianto he should wait a minute. Jack grimaced at Ianto as the phone was answered, 'Ellie? Hi, Jack, listen could you do me a favour and reassure my over protective PA that I don't have designs on your virtue?' Ianto could hear Ellie's indignant squawk across the office as a smug looking Jack held the phone out to him. Reluctantly Ianto took the phone.

'Ellie?'

Ellie sounded so furious she could hardly speak, 'Ianto, you dipstick! You thought Jack was trying it on with me?'

Ianto tried hard to maintain a dignified expression as Jack was watching him intently from across the room, 'Well,' he said uncomfortably, 'there was kissing...and hugging...and you said, erm...' he tailed off

Ellie gave an irritated sigh, 'Jack had just offered me a scholarship to fund my degree studies for the next three years with an option to extend the funding to cover my Masters study if I want. My mum and dad work really hard, Ianto but with the new university fees system there's no way they could support my degree studies. I want to study computer science, specialising in programming, I'm good, you know, really good. I helped Jack with a hacking programme he needed and ended up telling him about my dreams. Jack said he'd help and he absolutely has, he set it up so the scholarship comes from the University and my parents will never know how much help we have received or who from. My Dad is a proud man who wouldn't accept what he would see as charity. Captain Harkness is a wonderful, munificent man and his generosity has made a complete difference to my life. He has never, never behaved inappropriately to me and don't you dare give him a hard time.'

Chastened, Ianto hung up the phone and held it out to Jack, 'I'm sorry' he said

Jack walked up to him and took the phone, the hurt in his eyes hit Ianto like a slap. 'Don't apologise' he said bitterly, 'I know you think I'm a slut so I guess it was a natural conclusion to jump to.'

Ianto reddened, 'I don't think you are a slut,' he said firmly, 'I was talking to Tosh earlier, she told me why you behave the way you do around here.' He tried a small grin, 'pissing off Hartman like that, I think it's brilliant' he took a risk and grabbed hold of Jack's hand, 'I think you're brilliant' he said softly looking into Jack's eyes.

A tiny smile hovered at the edge of Jack's luscious mouth, 'yeah?'

Ianto edged a little closer, 'yeah'

Jack's mouth was millimetres from Ianto's 'yeah?'

Ianto closed the gap, 'yeah'

* * *

Lisa was sitting uncomfortably on the edge of her seat whilst Yvonne Hartman prowled the room behind her.

'So despite all your confidence, all the promises you made at our last meeting you have NOTHING for me?'

Lisa swallowed, 'Director, It's only been two weeks and the Captain has been working Ianto very hard, I've hardly seen him.'

'Are you still sleeping with him?'

Lisa blushed, 'pretty much, when I do see him we fuck, I don't stay over as much as I used to but...'

The Director tutted with impatience, 'I'm not interested in your failing sex life Ms Hallett. When I asked if you are sleeping with Jones I meant it literally'

'Oh, well..yeah. After we've...after...we tend to nap for a while'

Yvonne smiled; 'excellent' she walked over to the original Picasso that hung on the wall behind her desk and moved it to reveal a wall safe and spun the dial. She opened the safe and rummaged around inside. 'Ah ha' she turned triumphantly, 'this is what we need'. She held out her hand to show Lisa a small purple oval crystal.'

'What is that?' asked Lisa curiously

'It's a Ciccardian memory scoop,' The Director dropped the surprisingly heavy stone into Lisa's out-stretched hand, 'You place this on Jones's forehead when he's sleeping and it will download the last 24 hours worth of his memories and experiences. It will change colour from purple to green when the download is complete and then all you need to do is place it anywhere on your laptop and it will dump the memories onto your hard drive for you to send on to me. When the dump is finished the crystal will turn purple again and be ready for you to use it next time.'

Lisa frowned, 'the way things are between Ianto and I at the moment, I'll probably only get the chance to use it once or twice a week.'

Hartman raised an eyebrow, 'That doesn't matter, he's working for Harkness, sooner or later you will pick up something we can use against him and the beauty of this is that Jones won't even know that he is betraying his Captain.'

The two women smiled at each other.


	4. Chapter 4

Ianto looked muzzily up at Jack and smiled contentedly. Breathless from their first tentative connections, he and Jack had slowly progressed across the office to the giant red couch and had spent the rest of the afternoon kissing each other senseless. Jack had somehow managed to insinuate one of his hands inside Ianto's shirt and was amusing himself by fondling Ianto's nipples to make them hard and tangling his fingers in Ianto's chest hair. Ianto could not stop running his hands through Jack's hair, completely messing up the careful styling, it was as soft as he had always thought it would be and Ianto was trying very hard not to imagine how it would feel against his cock or brushing the sensitive skin of his inner thighs. _I've missed this_, he realised, with a jolt, _I've missed being with a man_ He ran his hands down Jack's back relishing the play of the muscles under his hands; _I've missed the strength and the hardness of a man's body_. Jack was gently running his fingers over Ianto's face, as if he was trying to store his image in his fingertips; _I've missed the unexpected tendernesses too_, thought Ianto. With the tiny part of his brain that was still able to think analytically he compared the comfort of Jack's surprising warmth with Lisa's hitherto unsuspected sharpness and cruelty; _whether this thing with Jack turns into anything or not_, decided Ianto, thinking about the conversation he'd had with Lisa on the day he started as Jack's assistant_, I am going to end things with Lisa, she isn't the woman I fell in love with anymore or maybe I'm just seeing her properly for this first time_. Looking up into Jack's eyes that were half closed with pleasure, Ianto licked his kiss swollen lips, pulling a visceral moan from his boss, and tried to form a sentence.

'Jack'

'hmm'

'Jack'

'what?'

'As brilliant as this is, don't you think we should...'

'Move on to somewhere with a bed?'

Ianto grinned, 'God that would be great but I was thinking more along the lines of, do some work'

Jack groaned, 'do we have to?'

'I think it might be for the best, Sir. These artefacts won't sort themselves'

Jack pushed himself up and straddled Ianto's hips, thrusting gently so that Ianto was left in no doubt about how aroused he was 'If I say yes, do I get a reward?'

'Dunno' Ianto looked up at Jack from under his lashes, 'what sort of reward would you like?'

'Hmm' Jack was sneakily trying to undo more of the buttons of Ianto's shirt, 'have dinner with me?'

Ianto smiled, and swatted Jack's hand away from his chest 'I could do that'

'Followed a few hours later by breakfast?'

'Could do that too'

Jack leant forward and slid his tongue into Ianto's mouth, flicking it over the roof of the younger man's mouth to make him moan and then rolled, cat-like, onto his feet. He looked down at his assistant who made an irresistible picture of debauchery, sprawled on his back tie loosened shirt undone, nipples erect and pupils blown with desire. 'Gods you are gorgeous' Jack told him, 'you could get me into so much trouble'

Ianto sat up and tried to put his clothing back in order, 'says the man who just had my tongue down his throat.'

Jack chuckled and pulled a box of tech towards the coffee table, 'you get us more of your fabulous coffee and I'll make a start on this lot.'

As Ianto gathered up the coffee mugs and insulated jugs to take to the kitchen his mobile buzzed. He raised an eyebrow at Jack and pulled his slim phone from his trouser pocket.

'Oh' exclaimed Jack, 'It's a phone, thank god! I thought...' he looked at Ianto's face, 'never mind'

Ianto read the text message and his face fell, 'crap!' Jack raised a quizzical eyebrow, Ianto enlightened him, 'It's from Lisa, I forgot we have a date tonight.' He threw an apologetic glance towards Jack, 'looks like I may have to take a rain check on dinner.'

Jack's heart sank, but he didn't want to frighten the younger man off by letting him see how much he wanted him so he pasted on a neutral expression and waved an unconcerned hand, 'no sweat' he said easily, 'it was more of an open invitation than a hard and fast arrangement.' He bent over to rummage in the box of artefacts to hide his frustration and so missed the disappointed and hurt expression that flashed across Ianto's face.

Ianto sent a text back to Lisa confirming that they were still on and would meet at his place at 7.30. As he returned the phone to his pocket he glanced at Jack who was still rooting around in the box of alien junk, _stupid of me to think I could be more than a snog and a quick fumble_ he thought sadly,_ I mean, look at him why on earth would he want me? _Just then Jack looked up and gave Ianto a soft smile, not the usual million megawatt grin he threw at everyone but a genuine smile that said _I like you, I want to know more about you_. It made Ianto feel both excited and happy at the same time.

'Hey!' Jack was holding up a strangely shaped object that looked a bit like a child's melted plastic water pistol, 'I had one of these when I was a kid' He pointed it at one of the crystal vases and squeezed the trigger. The vase exploded into a myriad of sharp fragments.

'Bloody hell, Jack!' Ianto was laughing, 'what sort of weird ass childhood did you have if you have alien weaponry to play with?' but then he caught sight of Jack's face and sobered immediately. A large shard of the vase had sliced though the soft skin of Jack's cheek, Ianto was certain he could see the white gleam of cheek bone through the crimson spilling over his face. Ianto dropped the tray he was holding and rushed across the room to kneel between Jack's legs. 'Oh my god, oh my god' he was fumbling in his pants pocket for his handkerchief, hands shaking he formed it into a pad and pressed it gently against Jack's cheek. 'Hold this against it and I'll go and get the first aid box' Ianto was almost in tears, 'God Jack this is going to scar'

Looking a little pale, Jack leant back on the sofa and tried to smile, 'It's OK, Yan, it'll be fine.' Ianto shook his head, bright red blood was soaking through the white cotton of the handkerchief and dripping over Jack's fingers to pool onto his trousers, it didn't look like it was going to be fine to him. Gently pressing Jack's hand more firmly to his cheek, Ianto raced from the room down to the kitchen where he knew the first aid box was kept, he grabbed it from the cupboard and sprinted back to the office, afraid at what he might find. There had been so much blood, Ianto was trying to remember if there were any major arteries in the face, he was pretty sure there weren't but the cut had been so deep. He burst through the office door and stumbled to Jack's side. Jack had his eyes closed but was still clasping Ianto's hanky to his face.

Fingers shaking, Ianto opened a sachet of antiseptic and tipped it into a little galipot, he moistened some cotton wool swabs and gently peeled the handkerchief away from Jack's face. 'This is gonna sting a bit' he warned as he carefully swiped it across the damaged skin, cleaning away some of the gore. Then he paused, unable to believe what he was seeing. The deep and gaping wound that had bled so profusely was now nothing more than a thin oozing red line, 'what the fuck?'

'Ah' Jack sat up and, taking more of the moistened swabs, wiped the blood from his face, 'would you believe good genes?'

'Jack I saw bone, how could this possibly have healed so quickly? Who...what... are you'

Jack wrapped his large hand around Ianto's wrist and pulled him down to sit beside him. 'Ianto I like you...a lot, I trust you too, but if I tell you anything about myself I could be putting you in serious danger. Hartman would happily torture you to get information about me out of you – I have no right to put you at risk like that.'

Ianto put his hand against Jack's almost healed cheek, 'tell me what you can' he begged softly, 'I like you as well and... I think you are worth the risk.'

With a small smile, Jack closed his eyes and swallowed heavily, 'I'm not from round here' he began, 'not from this place or this time. I was born on a colony planet in the 51st century, a tiny place on the Boeshane peninsula. I joined the Time Agency as soon as I could, needed to get out of that backwater dump. I travelled around a lot, ended up here, that's pretty much it.'

Ianto was stunned 'Time agency?'

Jack shook his head, 'Can't talk about that' he said, 'timelines and stuff'

'Ok. Can you at least tell me how come you heal so fast?'

'Partly 51st century biology, partly Time Agency enhancements, partly...something else that I just can't tell you about, OK?' Ianto nodded and Jack continued, ' I am Human, well, more or less, I was classified human in the last galactic census but by my time the human strain had been watered down a bit so there maybe 5-10% of other species in there somewhere. ' He raised his eyes to look into Ianto's, 'this is the bit where you freak out about being snogged and groped by an alien and turn me in to Hartman and her scientific researchers/torturers.'

A small frown appeared on Ianto's face, 'Thought you trusted me' he stated, flatly.

'I do'

'So where, in your definition of trusting people, does it say that I would behave like that?'

Jack looked away, 'That's what usually happens when I trust people' he said miserably

Ianto thought his heart might break at the desolation in Jack's voice, 'not when you trust me' he said firmly as he pulled the older man into a tight embrace.


	5. Chapter 5

By the time Ianto let himself into his flat he felt completely exhausted, his decision to break up with Lisa, together with the realisation that he was dangerously close to falling hard for Jack Harkness, compounded by the reluctant revelations that Jack had made about his origins and his enhanced healing properties had left Ianto with a pounding ache behind his left eye that he knew, from bitter experience, no amount of over the counter pain killers were going to shift. As he slipped his shoes off in the tiny entrance hall of his flat he thought longingly of a warm shower and crisp, cool sheets. He knew from previous episodes that sleep was the only way to shift these migraines so he was dismayed to hear clattering in his kitchen indicating that Lisa had let herself in and was cooking for them.

'Hiya' Lisa's voice floated out from the kitchen, 'hope you don't mind but I'm knackered so I thought we could stay in tonight. I'm making spag. bol, I know how much you love that,' she emerged from the kitchen and moved to hug Ianto, 'god you look awful babes.'

The pounding behind Ianto's eye had transmogrified into a sharp stabbing pain, razor splinters of light coruscated in his vision and his eye sight was blurring, 'migraine' he managed to croak as he pushed past her to rush to the bathroom to throw up.

As Ianto slumped on the bathroom floor, resting his head on the cool porcelain, Lisa came in, he was vaguely aware that she was searching though his medicine cabinet and then crouching beside him wrapping his fingers around a chilled bottle of water.

'Here y'go, babes,' she said softly, slipping two pills into his mouth 'take these, drink that and we'll get you into bed.'

'Thanks' mumbled Ianto, 'stressful day'

Lisa tenderly helped him to his feet and led him towards the bedroom, she carefully kept an expression of loving concern on her face as she helped Ianto undress and slip between under the duvet but inside she was rejoicing._ Brilliant_ she thought to herself, _I don't even have to fuck him to sleep, Harkness has got him so stressed that all I have to do is wait for the migraine medication to knock him out and then I can use the Ciccardian memory scoop, find out exactly why his day was so traumatic._

As Ianto slowly slipped towards sleep, Lisa sat beside him gently stroking his hair. Ianto looked up at her, blinking painfully as even the low lighting of his bedroom sent sharp pain lancing through his head, 'thank you for looking after me' he whispered.

Lisa bent down and placed a soft kiss in his hair, 'my pleasure babes' she said with a smile as she watched Ianto drift off to sleep.

* * *

Yvonne Hartman was working late at her desk when her secure e-mail in-box beeped. Opening the mail window she raised an eyebrow when she saw that the incoming message was from Lisa Hallett complete with attachment. Fingers trembling with excitement she downloaded the memory dump, poured herself a glass of wine and settled down to watch Ianto Jones' day. After 20 minutes of watching Jones watch with hungry eye as Jack Harkness read, she yawned and began to fast forward through the content, rolling her eyes and sighing in an irritated fashion when she got to the part where Jack and Ianto were exploring each other's mouths. 'Oh for the love of god, Harkness' she muttered then sat up and began to pay extremely close attention as she watched Jack destroy some of his office decor and slice his handsome face open. 'Hmm' she said with a sinister smile, 'accelerated healing eh? That's new information.' Her smile widened as she saved the memory file to a highly secure eyes-of-the-director-only area on the Torchwood server and wrote and sent two e-mails, one to the head of her black level security team and one to her newest informant.

* * *

Lisa had watched fascinated as the Ciccardian memory scoop rested on the sleeping Ianto's forehead and flashed purple as it downloaded his memories. It had taken a full 15 minutes before the crystal turned green and she had been able to send the memory dump to Hartman. She was just secreting the Ciccardian memory scoop back into her handbag when her phone chirruped telling her that she had a new e-mail. Lisa glanced over to where Ianto was sleeping peacefully, a fading red mark on his forehead the only evidence that she had applied the memory scoop, she opened the anonymous e-mail and a triumphant smile crawled across her face as she read;

_Excellent work. Expect confirmation of your promotion to Directors Assistant following independent verification of data; in addition £10,000 deposited in your personal account as a sign of good faith._

Lisa picked up her coat and handbag and headed out of Ianto's flat, pausing she looked back into Ianto's bedroom and laughed, 'thanks for your help babes' she sneered, then she turned out the lights and left.

* * *

Ianto was jerked awake by a thunderous hammering on his front door, blearily he picked up his phone, and squinted at the screen, it was three in the morning. Somewhat shakily he got to his feet, his migraine had receded but he still felt unsteady and light headed. He shuffled to the door as the hammering began again, 'OK, OK' muttered Ianto, 'I'm coming.' He opened the door and a badly beaten Jack Harkness collapsed into his arms.

'Christ, Jack!' Ianto was horrified, 'What the hell happened?'

'Jumped me...leaving a club' Jack was barely coherent and Ianto noticed that he was dressed in a sinfully tight blue silk tee-shirt that showed off his chest and black leather jeans so tight they appeared to be spray painted on. 'Didn't know where else to go...sorry...' Jack's eyes rolled back into his head and his knees buckled, staggering slightly because Jack was a big man, Ianto managed to hold him up long enough to get him down the short corridor to his bedroom.

Ianto lowered him onto his bed. 'Let's get you out of those clothes' he panted

A tiny smile crawled onto Jack's face, 'thought you'd never ask' he mumbled

Ianto raised an eyebrow, 'not exactly the time, Sir'

Jack chuckled weakly and closed his eyes as Ianto peeled off his tee-shirt. 'Gods, Jack!' Jack's torso was a kaleidoscope of bruising, Ianto was sure he could see a boot print or two as if someone had stamped on his chest, some of his ribs must surely be broken. Swallowing heavily he slid down Jack's jeans, trying to ignore the fact that Jack had obviously chosen to go clubbing commando, although shit, that was one impressive cock. Forcing his mind back to the current situation, Ianto cautiously prodded Jack's hip, it look as though the pelvis had been fractured, the tip of the bone felt as if it had been shattered, he could feel bone fragments sliding around under Jack's skin. His knee looked as if it had been dislocated too, it was swollen and discoloured, _gods how had he managed to stand, never mind walk_ and at least four of his fingers looked broken. Fighting back tears Ianto dropped to his knees at the side of the bed and tenderly stroked Jack's hair back from his forehead.

'God, Jack, this is bad. I...I don't know what to do...how to help.'

Painfully Jack rolled his head on the pillow and locked his eyes on Ianto's, 'Don' need to do anything' he slurred, 'Just need somewhere safe to heal.' He made a valiant effort to focus on Ianto's face through unequal pupils, 'could use...a...hug...though'

A reluctant smile flashed on Ianto's face, 'never give up do you, Sir?'

'Just need some comfort' muttered Jack.

'OK, then' Ianto nodded slithered in next to Jack and carefully pulled the broken man into his arms. With a tiny sigh of contentment, Jack settled against Ianto's chest. Ianto pressed a kiss into the older man's hair and felt him smile against his skin, 'go to sleep, cariad,' he murmured, 'I've got you, you are safe now.' He held Jack close, watching as the older man drifted into a deep and healing sleep, only when Ianto was certain that Jack was peacefully settled did he allow his own eyes to close and sleep to reclaim him.

* * *

A heavy gust of wind sent rain was spattering against the window and jerked Ianto from his slumbers. He could see through his partly drawn curtains that the rain was torrential and the heavy grey clouds suggested that it wasn't about to ease up any time soon. Ianto had a slight moment of panic that he had overslept until he realised that not only was it Saturday so he didn't have to go into the office but that his boss was currently naked and fast asleep in his arms.

Shifting carefully so as not to disturb his bed mate, Ianto looked down at Jack's body; the terrible injuries of the night and almost faded in the intervening six hours. Gently, Ianto ran his hand down Jack's side to the tip of his hip; it felt firm and strong under his fingers. Jack shuddered in his sleep and Ianto pulled him closer, smiling as he older man relaxed under his touch. The burst of tenderness and warmth that spread through his chest took Ianto by surprise. _How has this man got under my skin so quickly,_ he wondered_, I'm his man through and through. There is nothing he could ask of me that I wouldn't do_. Jack shifted again and Ianto smiled as his morning erection pressed insistently against his side. _I love him_, he realised, _he is wonderful, brave and strong but vulnerable and so desperate for someone to love him no matter what, how could I not love him? _

A small frown creased Ianto's face, he knew that he did not fall in love easily, it had taken him over a year before he realised that he loved Geraint, just in time for Geraint, exhausted from waiting for Ianto to make up his mind about them, to realise that he didn't love Ianto enough any more to stay in Wales with him when a diplomatic posting to Washington was on offer. He had been with Lisa for nine months and had thought that he was beginning to love her, although the speed with which those feelings had died when Lisa had exposed her strong loyalty to Torchwood One and Director Hartman made him doubt the veracity of his emotions. _Guess I was kidding myself, I just wanted someone to belong to, who would also belong to me,_ he thought, shivering as Jack's soft breath ghosted over his chest_, but him, he is something else entirely. He makes me strong, he makes me...right. Yeah, that's it, I feel right for the first time in my life, ever because at his side is where I'm meant to be_

Ianto's musings were interrupted as a warm hand travelled down over his belly and slightly calloused fingertips stroked the length of his hardening penis. Ianto looked down to see Jack Harkness' bright blue eyes, sparkling with mischief and desire staring up at him.

'Morning' smiled Jack

'Hey, there' Ianto smiled back, 'how are you this morning?' His voice hitched slightly as Jack insinuated his hand between his thighs and gently fondled the silky skin of his balls, making his cock twitch violently. Ianto desperately cleared his throat and tried to focus, 'better, obviously'

Jack's hand stilled for a moment, his finger pressing softly on Ianto's pulsing entrance 'I want you' he whispered, 'please say yes, please say I can'

Ianto closed his eyes, Jack's fingers were sending tendrils of heat coiling into his belly, his cock was hard and already weeping pre-come, he had never wanted a love, male or female, so much. 'Jack, please' he whimpered, 'touch me, fuck me, please'

Jack's smile was soft and loving, 'good boy,' he murmured as he slid his finger inside Ianto, making sure to brush his prostate and capturing the young man's mouth in a deep and erotic kiss, swallowing his moans of pleasure.


	6. Chapter 6

Ianto felt a little shy as he walked into the office on Monday morning. He and Jack had spent the whole of Saturday in bed; having what Ianto was certain was the best sex he had ever had in his entire life. Ianto smiled at the memory of Jack's hands on and in his body, a smile that grew even wider as he recalled that he, quiet, useless Ianto Jones from nowhere, had made the charismatic man from the 51st century scream with pleasure as he came harder than Ianto thought possible. An unwelcome phone call from Lisa had bought their day to an end and as Ianto has sat naked on the side of the bed reassuring his girlfriend that ,yes, his migraine was resolving and making arrangements to meet her for breakfast the following morning, Jack, with an unidentifiable expression on his face had silently got dressed. He had hovered in the bedroom doorway as Ianto desperately tried to end his call with Lisa but when it was obvious that the conversation was not going to finish anytime soon, he had walked across to Ianto, dropped a lingering kiss in his hair smiled at him a little sadly and let himself out of the flat.

Jack was sitting at his desk, staring dejectedly at his hands. He was remembering what he had been doing with those hands on Saturday. His memory was hazy as to how he had actually managed to get to Ianto's flat after the five men had jumped him as he had left the club with his latest pick up, who had fortunately had the sense to leg it as soon as Jack's attackers piled into him. He could remember being held in the young man's arms, how safe and secure and loved it had made him feel. He had looked up the word _cariad_ on the Internet and the thought that Ianto had referred to him as_ beloved_ sent a warm glow through him. _What the hell is the matter with me _thought Jack_, I've bedded pretty boys before but Ianto Jones has really got under my skin_. Jack about how watching Ianto chatting on the phone to Lisa had sent a spasm of jealousy through his chest, he had wanted to snatch the phone from Ianto's hand, throw him down on the bed and fuck him hard to make him realise that he belonged to Jack Harkness now and to no one else. More shaken than he had wanted Ianto to see Jack had contented himself with placing a protracted kiss in the younger man's hair and leaving.

The opening of the office door broke into Jack's reverie and he raised his head to look straight into the grey blue eyes of Ianto Jones. The two men had not seen each other since Jack's somewhat dejected departure and neither of them seemed to know how to react. Eventually, Ianto smiled at Jack,

'Hi'

Jack smiled back, 'hi'

'Er' Ianto rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably, 'not too sure what to say to you'

Jack's smiled slipped a bit, 'we could...you know...pretend it never happened...not talk about it, not think about it'

Ianto frowned, 'is that what you want, Sir?'

Jack shook his head, 'gods, no,' he said emphatically, ' I haven't stopped thinking about it all weekend.'

Ianto blushed, 'me either'

Jack realised with a small shock that he was standing _thisclose_ to Ianto and he had no recollection of getting up and moving around his desk, never mind crossing the room. He frowned, 'what have you done to me Ianto Jones?'

'Sir?'

Jack crossed his arms across his chest, 'I can't think, can't sleep' he snorted, 'can't flirt, can't fuck'

Ianto laughed, 'I beg to differ on the last two'

Jack shook his head, 'Ianto, I don't do jealousy, don't do love at first sight, don't do exclusivity, don't do being a couple...' Ianto looked down at his shoes_, OK I get the message,_he thought, _here it comes; __Ianto, it was just a bit of fun, it didn't mean anything_, Jack was still talking, '...but with you, I-I do all those things, I want to do all those things'

There were a few minutes of silence whilst the two men stood drinking each other in, trying put a name to what it was they were on the threshold of. Yvonne Hartman sweeping into the office and clearing her throat loudly broke the moment.

'Captain? Am I interrupting something?'

Jack's eyes slid over Ianto's shoulder and became cold, 'No'

'Hmm, pity'

'Yvonne, is there something I can do for you' enquired Jack icily.

Hartmann smiled, 'I just popped in to see how things were going.'

'Fine' said Jack, tightly 'things are going fine.'

'Excellent, and Mr Jones, are you...satisfied... with him?'

Ianto could tell by the slight tightening of the skin at the corners of Jack's mouth that he was stifling a grin, 'more than satisfied, thank you, Director'

'Good, good' Hartman was backing out of the office, she ran her eyes offensively over Jack's body 'Nice to see you looking so...healthy, Captain.'

As the door closed behind her Jack and Ianto stared at each other in confusion, ''What the hell was that about?'

* * *

Yvonne Hartman stood in the lift that was taking her to her penthouse office and wanted to hug herself with delight. Her Friday night instructions to Captain Deveraux and his black level special ops team had been clear, damage Harkness badly, don't kill him just damage him severely enough that at least a two week hospital stay is required. Deveraux had e-mailed video footage of the attack, ending with a close up of a broken, unconscious and barely recognisable Harkness on the ground of an alleyway. _Accelerated healing_ she thought, _there was not a mark on him. If we could find out how that works isolate the process, replicate it, the country would have an unstoppable militia_. Hallett had done well at her first attempt and Yvonne decided that she would encourage her to collect more of Jones' memories, she was certain that there was still more to be uncovered about the enigmatic Captain.

Hartman was actually smiling as she walked into her office, a smile that faded a little as she saw Lisa Hallett perched anxiously on the edge of a chair in front of Karina's desk. The Director swept past and into her office without acknowledging Lisa in any way. Her PA jumped to her feet and scuttled into the room behind her. Yvonne turned and raised a quizzical eyebrow.

'She has been waiting here since 8 o'clock this morning' explained Karina, 'She says she must speak with you, about Ianto Jones'

Hartman nodded, 'OK show her in'

Karina sashayed from the room and a few second later, Lisa Hallett slid into the room

'Ms Hallett?'

'Director' word were tumbling out of Lisa's mouth even before she had seated herself on the chair that Hartman had indicated, 'Ianto has broken up with me, He took me out for breakfast on Sunday and said we weren't right together, said he had met someone else, that he had fallen in love, ' Lisa snorted derisively, ' and that he did not want to see me any more' she held the Ciccardian memory scoop, 'I won't be able to use this again'

Yvonne could feel her good mood evaporating, 'No' she said flatly

Lisa looked confused, 'but, Director...'

'I said no' snapped Hartman, 'You are a resourceful girl, Lisa. I'm sure you can think of a way to keep Jones at your side.'

Lisa thought for a second and then snapped her fingers; 'got it' she said triumphantly, 'I can...'

Hartman interrupted, 'I don't need to know, just do what you have to do and get me more data on Harkness' She opened a file on her desk and began to read, clearly the interview was over.

Lisa walked slowly down the corridor towards the lifts with a massive smile lighting up her face. She was still in the game, Hartman still trusted her. All she had to do was find a way to get Ianto back and that wouldn't be too hard. Before dating him, Lisa had been seeing Bryn, a guy from the Torchwood chemical research division. Bryn had been working on replicating the mating pheromones of the Brinskillian Megalapod, one of the most aesthetically repulsive and over sexed beings in the known universe. He had left a full 500ml flask of the stuff at Lisa's apartment. One spray and Lisa knew from experience that Ianto would be unable to keep his hands off her. Who knew, it might even raise Ianto's game a bit, with a little skip in he r step Lisa got into the lift.

* * *

Ianto placed a mug of coffee in front of Jack, together with a plate containing two almond and pistachio biscuits. Jack was staring into the distance and gave no sign that he even knew Ianto was there.

'Sir? Jack?'

Suddenly Jack slammed his hand down flat on the desk, making Ianto jump and the coffee mug and plate rattle together. 'Fuck! It was her' Ianto had no clue what Jack was talking about and was about to say so when Jack leapt to his feet and began pacing furiously, Ianto stepped hurriedly back to avoid being stepped on. 'Fucking Hartman' he snarled, 'she ordered that hit on me the other night. I knew it was a professional job; it was too slick just to be a drunken fight. She ordered it because, somehow she knew about my accelerated healing. Did you see the way she looked at me? And that comment about how "healthy" I'm looking?' He spun and his heel and appeared to notice Ianto for the first time, 'She found out about me,' he said slowly, 'but...the only other person in Torchwood One who knew about the healing thing was...you'

Ianto went paler than usual, 'What? You think I told her? Jack, No!'

'Have you another explanation?' demanded Jack, 'Who did you tell, Ianto?'

'No-one, I told no-one' protested Ianto

'Who was it?'

'No-one. I would never betray your trust in me'

Jack grabbed hold of the front of Ianto's shirt, his face twisted with fury, 'who did you tell' he shouted, flecks of spittle sprayed across Ianto's face as Jack shook him violently and raised a fist as if to hit him

To Jack's horror Ianto began to cry, the large fat tears of a distressed child. For Ianto, already stressed and scared, having a large, angry man looming over him threatening violence triggered memories of a brutal adolescence. 'I didn't tell anyone, I didn't – please dad, please' He tore himself from Jack's grasp and fled from the office.

For a brief moment Jack stood frozen to the spot; _Dad? Shit!_ Then he ran out of the office after the stricken man. Jack saw the door to the emergency stair way closing and realised that Ianto had fled that way. As he ran he pulled out his phone and dialled.

'Tosh' he panted, 'Ianto Jones, born Newport 1983, I want information about his childhood, quick!' He heard a fast tapping of fingers on a keyboard and then a soft gasp,

'Ianto Gareth Jones referred to social services on six separate occasions by neighbours and school teachers on suspicion of parental abuse. Never taken into care as accusations were unverifiable'

'Fuck! Thanks Tosh' Jack ended the call and paused on the landing, he couldn't hear anything, no running footsteps to give him a clue as to where the terrified young man had gone. Then he heard it a smothered weeping from the landing above. Moving carefully, Jack mounted the stairs to see Ianto pressing himself into a corner, knees pressed tightly against his chest and his hands over his mouth to muffle his sobs. He made a pitiful sight and any residual anger and suspicion of betrayal that Jack had evaporated to be replaced with an almost unbearable pity.

'Ianto?'

'Leave me alone'

'Yan, please, come back to the office. I'm sorry I scared you, come back with me'

'Leave me ALONE!' Ianto surged to his feet and placing his palms flat on Jack's chest and pushed him away. Jack staggered back, lost his footing at the top of the stairs and fell hard down the entire flight, before smashing into the wall of the half landing, his neck snapping with an audible crack.

'Oh God! Jack!' Ianto threw himself down the stairs and gathered the limp body into his arms. His fingers fumbled at Jack's neck but there was no pulse. Ianto buried his face in Jack's hair and rocked the unresponsive man to and fro as hot tears poured down his cheeks 'Jack, please. I'm sorry, don't leave me, please, please' He pressed Jack, tighter to his chest, the man's evocative and distinctive scent was still detectable and it broke Ianto's heart that he would never smell it again. He cradled the dead man's head in his hands and bent down to press a distraught kiss to the unresponsive lips.

Ianto closed his eyes, to savour this one last kiss with the man he had fallen, no not fallen, plummeted into love with and who he had just killed. 'Oh Jack,' he moaned. Then he felt Jack's lips moving against his own, his tongue sliding insistently across Ianto's lips and teeth and his hot breath against his cheek. Ianto pulled away, two bright blue eyes were gazing up into his own, 'Jack?'

Jack reached up and cupped Ianto's face with his large hand; 'Hey' he managed a pained smile

Ianto placed his own hand over Jack's, 'I...you were...what just happened?'

Jack struggled to his feet, lurching into Ianto, 'Sorry, just a bit unsteady after neck fractures, takes a bit of time for everything to connect properly again.'

Ianto blinked, 'this isn't the first time you've...well, um...died, then?'

Jack looked at him, 'you seem to be taking this quite well, most people are screaming and backing away from me by now'

Ianto laughed, 'I think my capacity for shock and awe is increasing exponentially with every new thing I learn about you'

Jack pulled him into a hug, 'I think we both have secrets to share,' he whispered quietly, 'and I think your lovely soft bed is a better place to do that than a drafty stairwell don't you?'

* * *

Four hours later, they were naked in Ianto's bed. Ianto had learned on Friday night that Jack found flesh on flesh contact comforting when he was physically hurting and Ianto figured that might be true for emotional pain also. Ianto was sprawled across Jack's chest chewing gently on one of his nipples whilst Jack was tenderly combing his fingers through the younger man tangled and sweaty hair. Secrets had been shared, Ianto now knew about Jack's immortality, Jack had been deliberately vague about the circumstances behind it, although he had told Ianto, in a voice clotted with sobs, how he had been abandoned, discarded by the people with whom he was travelling, left to die and revive, alone. The telling had made Jack shake and shiver and Ianto had pulled him close, so their bodies touched from chest to toes, promising that he would never be deserted as long as Ianto had any say in the matter.

Ianto had then haltingly told Jack tales of the beatings and punishments that had been the hallmark of his teenage years, although he had omitted some of the extreme things his father had done to him. He told Jack how his father had isolated him, ensuring he had no friends and no contact with anyone outside of the family. How, once he had escaped following the death of his father – about which he would not speak, he had struggled to make friends and how grateful and astonished he had been when Geraint had told him he loved him. He told Jack how he was unable to believe that anyone could love him and how frightened he had been of his own feelings, how that had shattered Geraint's patience, leaving him alone once more. Jack had held him as he wept, kissing his temple and murmuring loving nonsense to soothe him.

'I'm sorry, Yan' murmured Jack

'It was a long time ago,' shrugged Ianto, nuzzling into Jack's neck

'No, I'm sorry I assumed that it was you who had informed Hartman about me.'

Ianto frowned, 'No, it was not an unreasonable assumption – I mean, who else could it have been?'

'Office could be bugged, she could be tracking me on CCTV, found an informant from UNIT, could have found information in the archives, could be anything' said Jack sticking his tongue into Ianto's ear

Ianto moaned and tried ineffectually to push Jack away the better to stare earnestly into Jack's face, 'I will never willingly betray you, as long as I have breath in my body. I would walk into hell at your side, I'm yours, please understand that'

'Oh Ianto Jones' a small tear was tracking down the side of his face, 'what did I do to deserve you?' and he began to press hot kisses along Ianto's collar bone

Somewhere along the line the kissing had become more intense and hands had begun to squeeze and stroke, Tear tracks were kissed away and breathing became faster. With a wicked smile, Jack had slithered down Ianto's body and without warning had swallowed his cock in one smooth movement, causing Ianto's vision to white out. As Jack had gulped down Ianto's come, Ianto had spread his legs to encourage Jack to enter him and pound into him until he spurted hot and copiously whilst Ianto silently whispered the secret of his love against Jack's skin.

'I'm so glad I met you, Ianto Jones' murmured Jack

'Likewise, Sir'

'Oh you know what that does to me with that gorgeous Welsh accent' chuckled Jack as he rolled them so that he was now lying on top of Ianto who lifted his head and placed a kiss on the tip of Jack's perfect nose. Jack kissed him back, 'Come to Cardiff, work for me, be with me, live with me, whaddya say?'

Ianto could not ever remember a time when he had smiled so broadly, 'I say, yes, please'

* * *

Eventually Jack tore himself away from Ianto, citing paperwork to be completed to facilitate Ianto's transfer to Cardiff. They kissed their way to the door and Ianto spent another 10 minutes pushed against his front door as Jack Harkness snogged him so hard he nearly forgot to breathe. They finally got the door open and spent another five minutes peppering each other with goodbye kisses, until Ianto laughing pushed Jack out into the hallway

'Well now we have established we are both teenage girls, Sir, I think you should leave while your macho reputation is still in one piece'

Jack grinned, 'I'll come back later, yeah?'

Ianto pulled him in for one last searing kiss, 'you'd better' and closed the front door. He had barely made it to the kitchen to put the coffee on when the doorbell pealed. Rolling his eyes Ianto sauntered to the door and threw it open, 'Can't tear yourself away for me, eh?' his voice died in his throat when he saw who was standing in the hallway.

'Hiya babes' said Lisa with a big grin


	7. Chapter 7

'Lisa? What the hell are you doing here?' Ianto was stunned, she was the last person he had expected to see, 'Have you forgotten the whole "not seeing each other anymore" thing that we talked about yesterday?'

Lisa pushed her way into the flat, 'yeah, about that' she said, 'I've decided not to accept your offer to break up'

Ianto blinked, 'it wasn't an offer, it **was** a break up'

'Whatever. Have you any wine, babes' Lisa pushed past Ianto and went into the kitchen.

Shaking his head in exasperation Ianto followed her to the kitchen doorway, 'Lisa I want you to go.'

With a sigh, Lisa out down the bottle of wine she had found at the back of a cupboard and came out of the kitchen pressing Ianto against the wall, 'No you don't.' Ianto was feeling a bit dizzy, Lisa was wearing a new perfume or something, it reminded him slightly of Jack but it was sweeter, cloying. He was finding it hard to breathe and it was making him feel slightly sick. Ianto put his hands on Lisa's shoulders intending to push her away but, gods her skin felt so soft, how had he not noticed this before?

'Do you still want me to go' asked Lisa softly as Ianto ran his lips up and down the silky skin of her throat

'Whaa...'

Lisa unzipped Ianto's pants, insinuated her small hot hand inside and cupped his balls and cock, 'c'mon babes' she whispered, 'let's take this to the bedroom.'

When he had been in the first year of university, Ianto and Geraint had done a 12 hour pub crawl, allegedly for charity, and he could still remember how it felt as his brain slowly disappeared behind an alcohol induced fog. It felt a bit like that now, he was drifting towards the bedroom, his only anchor to reality was the feel of Lisa's hand wrapped gently around his hard dick pulling him forward. Before he knew it he was sprawled naked his bed, he had his tongue in Lisa's hot, wet cunt whilst she had her mouth on his weeping cock. Ianto had a niggling feeling something wasn't right, that there was some reason he shouldn't be doing this, shouldn't be wanting this but then Lisa did something with her tongue and he lost all interest in anything but how she was making him feel.

* * *

Two hours later, Lisa carefully slid herself out from under an unconscious Ianto Jones_. I think I may have under estimated the potency of that pheromone spray, _she thought exhaustedly, she had experienced multiple orgasms and Ianto had come at least five times. He was still inside her and groaned in his sleep as Lisa disentangled herself, pushed him away and slithered over the side of the bed, landing on the thick bedside rug with a soft thud. _God I'm sore, Hartman better appreciate this_; Lisa padded silently on bare feet back to the living room where she had dropped her handbag before jumping on Ianto, she pulled the Ciccardian memory scoop out of the soft red velvet pouch she had bought for it and went back to place it firmly on the sleeping Ianto's forehead.

She had just closed her laptop having received an automated acknowledgement e-mail from Yvonne Hartman that the memory capture had been delivered to her in-box when she heard the door to the flat opening. Swiftly Lisa ran back to the bedroom and draped herself over Ianto's sleeping form.

'Ianto?'

_Shit, it was Harkness, when did he get a key?_ She could hear Jack moving through the flat and felt Ianto begin to stir, he propped himself up on his elbow blinking sleepily

'Jack?' Ianto sounded disorientated and woozy

Jack appeared in the doorway of the bedroom, his smile lighting up the room, 'hope you don't mind I let myself in; he held up his wrist strap then, as he caught sight of a naked Lisa Hallett curled into Ianto's back, her arm possessively wrapped around his waist, his smile disappeared as if wiped from his face, 'am I...interrupting...something?'

Ianto was struggling to escape from Lisa's restrictive embrace, 'Jack...Jack...I can explain'

Jack raised a sceptical eyebrow, 'can you?'

Ianto thought for a moment, 'not really, no'

The smile was back but it didn't reach Jack's eyes, 'It's OK, no problem. Ianto, I'll see you tomorrow'

'Jack! Wait, Jack!' but the closing of the front door made it clear Jack had gone. Furious and completely alert at last, Ianto leapt out of bed and turned to face Lisa, 'get out, now' he snarled, 'I don't know what you did to me but I want you out of this flat and out of my life.'

Lisa was already getting dressed, 'don't you dare lay this on me' she snapped, 'you wanted this as much if not more than I did. What's the matter, Captain Harkness not a great as his reputation suggests?'

Ianto went white with anger 'leave now' he ground out, 'before I break the rule of a lifetime and hit a woman'

'Fine' Lisa snatched up her shoes and headed for the door, 'see you later babes.'

'Fuck off and leave me alone. I never want to see you again' Ianto threw her handbag after her. It hit the wall and the pouch containing the Ciccardian memory scoop fell out and landed, unseen, under the hall table. As the door closed firmly behind Lisa, Ianto slid down the wall with his head in his hands 'shit, shit shit!'

* * *

The next morning Jack left for work early, he knew that Ianto was usually at his desk by about 7.30 and he really, really wanted to talk to him before things between them got too weird. Surprisingly Jack was actually OK with what he was sure Ianto would expect him to see as an unforgivable infidelity. Jack understood about closure and was unconcerned by what was clearly a last time fuck with someone Ianto had been on the verge of falling in love with if office gossip was to be believed. He was a bit worried that Ianto might not view it like that though and was keen to make sure that Ianto didn't bury himself in a pit of guilt and misplaced remorse. Jack smiled happily as he exited the lift on the fifteenth floor; he had a good feeling about what was starting between the young Welshman and himself, he wasn't going to let a little tramp like Lisa Hallett ruin it. Someone emerged from the stairwell and walked up behind Jack as he fumbled with his swipe card.

'Captain Harkness?'

Jack turned, 'who wants to know?'

'Name's Deveraux. I have a message for you from Director Hartman.'

Jack rolled his eyes, 'What does prissy pants want now' he snarked

'She wants you to die' snarled Deveraux and he shot Jack, point blank, right between the eyes.

* * *

Ianto checked his phone for at least the twentieth time since he had got out of bed. Still no message from Jack; tutting at himself he dialled Jack's mobile for...well...at least the twentieth time. Voice mail. Again. 'Hi, Jack, it's me...er Ianto. Jack I'm really sorry about last night. Well, I've said that, already. Jack, please call me, even if it's to tell me to fuck off. I'm worried about not hearing from you.' Disconsolately he ended the call and headed into the kitchen to make himself some toast.

The sound of his phone buzzing woke him from the reverie he had slipped into. A glance at the clock told Ianto he had been gazing at his piece of toast as it congealed on his plate for the past thirty minutes. Ianto rushed over to the counter and grabbed the phone; it was a text from Jack.

_Heading back to Cardiff to sort some stuff out. Speak soon. CJH_

Ianto frowned, no innuendo, no flirting, even before he and Jack had slept together Jack's text messages had been x-rated, salacious was his default communication mode; his gut told him that this wasn't Jack. Biting his lip Ianto sent a text back.

_All those hideous Welsh accents. I know how much you hate them. Sympathies. IJ_

Heart pounding Ianto waited for a response

_Will endeavour to cope CJH._

Ianto swallowed heavily. Something was very wrong, he was sure of it. He thought about Jack's theory that Hartman had been behind the attack on him; that somehow she had found out about his accelerated healing – what if she had tried again and Jack was lying badly injured somewhere? Ianto jumped up to his feet and began to prowl around the flat, the thought that Jack might need him and he couldn't get to him made his skin crawl, he had no idea how to go about finding Jack, he was an archivist not a field operative. He tangled his fingers in his hair, and scanned the flat as if searching for inspiration. A flash of colour under his hall table snagged his attention. Frowning he got to his knees and fished out a small red velvet bag, squatting on his heels he opened it and tipped a purple gemstone into his hand, he stared at it, he knew what this was, he had seen pictures of it in the Torchwood One archive database and he had a pretty good idea who had used it on him and why. Last night's involuntary fuck fest suddenly made sense to him, if Lisa had a Ciccardian memory scoop she probably had access to all sorts of other stuff. He had never been that hard for her when he thought he was in love with her. She had used him to get information about the Captain and there were no prizes for guessing what she had done with that information either.

'Shit, Lisa, what have you done?' he groaned. He remembered how excited she had been when he first had been seconded to work for the Captain, her naked greed and ambition had sickened Ianto. He didn't find it hard to believe that Lisa would have gone to the Director and offered to use Ianto to spy on Jack. This kind of tech could only have come from the Director's office. If Lisa had been mining his memories then Hartman knew, she knew about Jack's immortality. Jack had been right, it was Ianto who had betrayed him. So now it was his responsibility to put things right. Slowly he walked into his living room and sat down. After a couple of minutes he dialled a number

'Tosh? Ianto Jones – I think Jack might be in trouble.'


	8. Chapter 8

It took all of Ianto's self control to get through the working day without storming up to Yvonne Hartman's office to demand to be told where Jack had been taken. Instead, he had calmly received the e-mail instructing him to return to his previous duties in the archive section and asked no questions; _just another good little drone for the director_, he thought bitterly. Ianto worked hard to keep his exterior as calm and impassive as always, however inside his gut was knotting itself up with fear for Jack, if Hartman knew that Jack couldn't die Ianto did not want to think what she would do to him. He really hoped that Toshiko and her colleagues at Torchwood Three would be able to help him. Tosh had listened to Ianto's garbled story for all of five seconds when he called her that morning before cutting him off.

'Ianto, stop. I hear you. We will send you a care package. It should arrive by this evening, until then carry on as normal'

_That's all very well_ thought Ianto to himself as he took a box of artefacts down to one of the storage bay, _but being with Jack is normal for me now – I don't know what to do without him_. He closed his eyes and sent a short prayer out to the universe, _please let him be alright._

* * *

Jack revived with his customary pained gasp to find himself naked and restrained with Yvonne Hartman standing watching him with a look on her face that was a mixture of fascination and revulsion.

Yvonne, honey' he drawled, 'You know you only had to ask, right?'

'It's true' she whispered, 'you can't die.' Jack opted for silence. 'I mean' Hartman continued, 'I thought the accelerated healing thing was impressive but this...this is something else.' She tilted her head to one side, 'do different forms of death take different amounts of time to come back from?' Jack started at her impassively, the Director smiled and ran her hands down Jack's chest, over his belly and absently mindedly fondled his cock and balls, 'doesn't matter if you don't want to tell me' she purred, ''My medical research team will, I'm sure, run all kinds of tests today just to give us a baseline to work from before we start to test some of our biological weapons on you tomorrow'

Jack was trying hard to maintain his composure but fear and terror curled in his gut. He had been a lab rat for Torchwood before, the experience formed the basis of some of his more terrifying nightmares, and he had no desire to be one again. He closed his eyes and began to construct a safe place in his mind to which he could retreat. It was one of the first skills he had been taught as a new recruit to the Time Agency and he knew that if he was going to survive this he needed to keep his psyche intact. He thought of Ianto Jones, the feel of his skin, the shape of his mouth, the colour of his eyes and the taste of his come. He imagined being in Ianto's arms, listening to the strong beat of his heart as they lay together recovering from their orgasm. He could use his memories of his wonderful Welshman to get through this.

Then Hartman leant over Jack to look into his eyes, and destroyed his safe place with one sentence, 'We have so much to thank Mr. Jones for' she said softly, smiling at the dawning look of horror and betrayal on Jack's face. She stepped back and beckoned to the surgical team who had been standing patiently behind her.

Jack's tormented screams followed her down the corridor as she left.

* * *

Ianto raced up the stairs to his flat, how he had got through the day he had no idea. He wished he had even the most basic computer hacking skills so that he could have got into Jack's e-mails – just to see if there was any clue as to his disappearance. He felt so fucking useless! For someone so larger than life it didn't seem right that Jack should vanish so completely and leave no trace behind, or that nobody should comment on that fact. He needed help, the kind of help that only Jack's team in Cardiff could give him. Tosh had talked of a care package; and although he had no idea what that meant, Ianto hoped desperately that it had arrived.

Heart pounding, mouth dry Ianto let himself into his flat. The 'care package' was sitting in his living room, drinking what smelled like a mug of his best coffee and reading the biography of Dylan Thomas that Ianto's sister had bought him for his last birthday. The severe looking, curly haired woman got to her feet, 'Suzie Costello' she introduced herself, 'Torchwood Cardiff; I think you have a story to tell me Mr Jones.'

Relief made Ianto's legs weak and he half sat, half collapsed into a chair. He huffed a small laugh, 'I've been thinking about telling this story all day and now I actually have the opportunity I don't know where to start.'

Suzie smiled, smugly 'why don't you start by telling me what makes you so certain that Jack hasn't just done his patented' fuck and go' manoeuvre on you?'

Ianto bridled, 'It's not like that, me and Jack'

Suzie snorted, 'yeah, you and Jack'

Somehow her cynicism and scepticism focussed Ianto's mind and he was able to provide Suzie with a more or less coherent account, starting with Jack turning up at his flat severely beaten, finding the Ciccardian memory scoop that Lisa had used on him and ending with his attempt to verify the origin of the text messages he had received, allegedly from Jack, that morning before he had telephoned Tosh.

'I'm scared' Ianto concluded, 'Hartman had Jack beaten nearly to death to validate his accelerated healing, what the hell will she do to test his immortality? She is ruthless and amoral and she hates Jack'. He shuddered, 'I keep...I keep thinking about vivisection'

Suzie nodded, 'if Hartman does have Jack and from what you tell me, it certainly seems the most likely scenario, we need to find where she is holding him and get him out of there are quick as we can. My colleague Owen Harper is with me, he'll be joining us here later. He's our doctor, 'she wouldn't look at Ianto, but shrugged 'I thought we might need him but first of all we need to find Jack. Tosh is back in Cardiff and, if necessary she can hack in to their systems but if you have any ideas now is the time to share them'

Ianto stared at the Ciccardian memory scoop sitting on his coffee table. He wondered what Hartman had given Lisa to betray him like that, he knew she had ambitions to be part of the Director's admin team and he bet that the promotion she had craved had been part of the deal. Suddenly inspiration hit him and he fumbled in his work bag for his laptop. Suzie raised a quizzical eyebrow. Ianto grinned.

'The person who would most likely know where Jack is being held is a trusted member of the Director's admin team, and the person who could find that out if that's true is the man who knows all of the passwords of the newest member of the Director's admin team.'

Suzie beamed back at Ianto, 'I think I've decided that I like you after all, Ianto Jones.'

Ianto grinned as he logged into Lisa's work space on the Torchwood server, he began skim reading the e-mails in Lisa's in-box. There were two from Hartman acknowledging receipt of the memory dump that Lisa had harvested from Ianto. He paled and Suzie noticed

'Problem?'

Ianto shook his head, 'No, no not really. Once I saw the memory scoop I knew what Lisa had done but to actually see it in black and white. Oh God, it really was me, I gave away Jack's secrets, this is my entire fault. I betrayed him, I let him down, anything Hartman does to him is my fault' He put his head in hands and tried to hold back his tears.

Suzie sighed unhappily, 'Can we save the self deprecation for later when we have Jack back?' she asked sarcastically, 'then you can sob on his manly chest and beat yourself up as much as you want. Right now we need to find out where they have him and think of a way we can get him back. That's your top priority – can you do that, Jones?'

Ianto rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hand and nodded. 'Sorry' he said quietly and turned back to the laptop. The room was quiet for five minutes or so as he scrolled through Lisa's in-box. Until, 'Here's one' he said triumphantly, 'Project Lazarus; an e-mail from the Director herself, instructing Lisa to make herself available to a Dr Yeoman who is project lead to act as the director's liaison. She was to report to him in lab 108 at 9 o'clock this morning.' Ianto grasped Suzie's arm, ignoring her expression of distaste, 'that's only on the first floor, if they are keeping him there the security will be minimal, we could snatch him and get him out through the ground floor fire exit at the back of the building, it opens into an alleyway.' He blushed, 'The door is alarmed but it's so easy to disarm, Lisa and I used to sneak out there sometimes to er...doesn't matter, anyway if you and Owen were there with a van I could get him to you and you could get him away.' He looked at Suzie with sparkling eyes, 'we can save him'

The mood was broken by the ringing of Ianto's doorbell. 'That'll be Owen' said Suzie as she went to open the door.

'I'll put the coffee on' said Ianto.

* * *

Jack revived in a darkened lab. He was still shackled to the metal trolley he was cold, and uncomfortable, they hadn't bothered to clean his body so it was still soiled with blood and other unpleasant bodily fluids, remnants of his many deaths that day. He ached with a deep visceral pain that was only partly due to the activities of the Director's goons. Despite Hartman's parting words to him, he still believed Ianto's protestations of innocence, he knew that the Welshman was a man of integrity; throughout the cruelty and pain he had been exposed to that day he had focused on his his feelings for his Yan to get him through and he knew by now that there was nothing he could d,o or wanted to do, to stop himself falling in love with the beautiful young man. His biggest fear was what Hartman would do to Ianto, Ianto's affection and loyalty, once gained were obviously immutable – he wouldn't let Jack's disappearance go unremarked. Jack was terrified that if Ianto got in her way or if he started to ask awkward questions Hartman would see him as a liability and deal with him - permanently. Jack didn't want to think about Ianto hurt, or dying or dead. Jack closed his eyes against the darkness and a lonely tear trickled down his soiled cheek.


	9. Chapter 9

At half past midnight, Ianto walked authoritatively along the silent corridor, his impassive exterior hiding a pounding heart. Suzie and Dr Harper had talked him through what he had to do countless times over the last thirty hours or so while he seethed and fumed at the delay in setting out to rescue Jack. Once Ianto had found out where Jack was being held he was ready to charge in and snatch him back immediately. Suzie had almost had to physically restrain him and at one point an irate Owen had threatened to sedate him. In the end he had been forced to sit still and listen to a lecture about field craft and the importance of careful planning before extracting an injured operative from a hostile situation.

In theory, everything Costello and Harper said made absolute sense but in reality Ianto found that every second he had to leave Jack in the hands of what Jack himself had referred to as Hartman's scientific researchers/torturers seemed to last a week. Now, though, he was heading towards Lab 108, a large messenger bag over one shoulder, an electronic lock pick in his pocket and a stun gun tucked into the waist band of his trousers. Suzie and Owen had a brief but intense argument about whether Ianto should be armed, with Suzie arguing that Ianto was not field trained and Owen insisting that sending him in alone and unarmed was tantamount to murder; eventually Ianto had managed to make himself heard with the valid point that he had never fired a gun and was not inclined to begin when on such a vital mission. In the end they compromised and provided Ianto with a stun gun and a comms unit. He had felt like James Bond as he secreted the gun under his jacket and inserted the comms unit in his ear but now as he approached the room that Jack was being held in he just felt sick and very alone.

A small buzz in his ear told him his comms unit was on line

'Ianto?'

'Tosh'

'I'm watching your back, Ok'

Ianto grinned at the only live CCTV on the corridor and blew a kiss, 'thanks Tosh'

The lab itself was dark and silent. Ianto tried the door handle and found to his amazement that it was unlocked; he pocketed the lock pick and slid in through the door with the utmost caution. An unlocked door meant there must be somebody inside guarding Jack, which he supposed made sense but also made his job harder. _Fantastic_ he thought worriedly He stood quietly against the wall waiting for his eyes to adjust to the gloom. He could see a light under the door of a small office to his left and his heart nearly stopped as the thread of light spread over the floor as the door opened and a slim figure emerged carrying a clip board. The woman stopped and stared in shock

'Ianto?'

'Lisa? What the hell are you doing here?'

Lisa huffed, 'new girl gets the shit jobs, I'm on freak watch for tonight'

Ianto ground his teeth, 'freak watch?'

Lisa nodded towards a figure lying on a trolley in a dark corner of the lab, 'they're testing some kind of biological weapon on him and I have to check his vital signs and the progress of the disease.' She frowned, 'what are you doing here?'

Relief ran though his body and Ianto gave her an easy smile pointing to a box he'd noticed on one of the workbenches 'I've fallen behind on my own projects so I'm pulling an all nighter, archives want his coat and his wrist strap thingy to catalogue.' He prayed that Lisa would not ask him how he knew the person she was watching over was Jack or even question why he was so calm about it when she must have suspected how close the two of them had become when Ianto was working for him but she just accepted what he told her without demur. _Probably can't imagine anyone not believing Torchwood has a right to do this to him_, Ianto thought irritably

'Oh right' Lisa stepped to one side and watched as Ianto folded the Captain's great coat and packed it into the large bag he had on his shoulder, placing the thick leather wrist strap on top.

_I need an excuse to stay_ thought Ianto and he widened his smile, 'I, er, I need to apologise for the way I spoke to you the last time we were together, especially after the...um amazing time we had before then. I could stay...keep you company for a bit if you like'

_God he's so thick_ thought Lisa smugly_, he hasn't worked out that the freak is here because of the information we got from him_. She laughed, 'Oh that's so sweet, babes' she winked at Ianto, 'let me just take these readings then we can have some fun.' She turned away from Ianto who pulled the stun gun from under his jacket and discharged it into her neck. Lisa dropped without a sound. Ianto stepped over her body without a second glance and hurried towards the only person in the room who mattered to him.

* * *

Ianto stood at the side of the metal gurney Jack was naked and semi-conscious, leather cuffs around his wrists fastened him to the sides of the trolley, the thin sheet under him was blood stained and sodden.

'Oh god, Jack' fingers fumbling Ianto unbuckled Jack's restraints and ran his hands though Jacks hair, it was saturated with sweat. Hesitantly, Ianto placed the palm of his hand on Jack's heaving chest; his skin was burning hot and covered with a thin sheen of perspiration. Jack eyes shot open at Ianto's gentle touch and he moaned. Pain filled eyes locked onto Ianto's face and Jack choked out a small sob

'Yan'

'Jack, I'm here to get you out.'

Jack coughed and thick trickle of blood oozed from the corner of his mouth, 'kill...me'

Ianto stared appalled, 'No, I can't'

Jack's eye fluttered shut, 'please...pain...only way'

Ianto stood indecisively looking at the man he loved writhing in agony and suddenly he understood what Owen Harper had been trying to tell him earlier that night; what Owen knew he would have to do. As Ianto had left his flat to start his first and, if he had any say in it, only field mission, Owen had followed him down to his car and had silently offered him a sheathed hunting knife. Ianto had taken it with a raised eyebrow.

'Just...just... in case' the doctor said quietly

'OK' said Ianto cautiously, not really understanding what Owen was trying to communicate.

Owen lifted up his own tee-shirt and placed Ianto's hand on a specific spot below his ribs, 'In and up' he said, 'please...use it if you have to'

_He knew_ realised Ianto_, he knew Jack would be this bad and I would have to kill him to get him out of this hellhole._

Jack's body spasmed and he gave an agonised moan. A tear leached from the corner of his eye, Ianto frowned, scooping it up on the end of his finger, it looked thick and viscous. Jack noticed and gave him a twisted rictus of a smile, 'virus' he gasped, 'desiccates...body...fluids. Hurts. Please...Yan...kill...me'

Tears blurring his own vision Ianto pulled the knife out of the sheath he had attached to his belt. He placed the tip of the knife on the spot on Jack's chest that corresponded with the spot Dr Harper had shown him. He hesitated,

'Jack' he sobbed, 'I can't'

Slowly and painfully Jack's hand crept up to cover Ianto's. Carefully Ianto entwined their fingers so that they grasped the handle together.

Jack gave Ianto a gentle, grateful, smile, 'To the gallows-foot - and after' he whispered and together he and Ianto pushed the knife blade up and under Jack's ribs and into his heart.

* * *

Ianto rubbed his tear filled eyes and placed a lingering kiss on Jack's rapidly cooling forehead. Then he touched his comm. unit

'Suzie? We're on our way'

'Copy that, we're in position'

'Tosh?'

'Lift is on your floor – doors open. Corridor is clear, you are good to go'

Ianto grasped the head of the gurney and pausing only to kick Lisa's unconscious body to one side, swiftly wheeled Jack's corpse out of the lab and towards the lifts. No sooner was he out of the door when a shaken and feeble Lisa Hallett pulled herself to her knees and slammed her hand on the emergency button.

Ianto had managed to manoeuvre the trolley onto the lift and begun his descent when Tosh's voice sounded urgently in his ear,

'Ianto, someone has sounded an alarm, you may be getting company.'

'Shit' swore Ianto, 'fucking Lisa, I should have tied her up.'

With a small _ping_ the lift doors opened and Ianto, abandoning all caution shot down the corridor at top speed, pushing open the fire door without pausing to disarm the alarm. As the door swung closed behind him he heard the sound of booted feet pounding down the stairway behind him. His comm buzzed, Tosh again,

'Ianto I've blocked the commands to the lift doors and cut the electric assist to the fire door but it won't hold them for long'

'Ok' Ianto panted as he ran towards the black transit van that was reversing at speed down the alley toward him, the doors at the back swung open and Ianto could see Owen crouching in the back, beckoning desperately.

'C'mon Jones, move it!'

With a wordless sob Ianto, sent to gurney hurtling towards the van; Jack's corpse bouncing perilously close to the edge drawing an anguished squeak from Ianto when he thought Jack's lifeless body may fall to the ground. Harper leant out of the moving vehicle and, using the momentum of the trolley pulled the moribund Captain into the interior. He shuffled back pulling Jack with him as Ianto threw the messenger bag containing Jack's coat into the van too, narrowly missing the two men.

Ianto was almost close enough to the van to launch himself in when he noticed Jack's wrist band lying on the concrete of the alley way, where it had fallen from the messenger bag. Without a second thought he spun round, raced back, scooped it up and hurled it with all his strength. Behind him he heard the door to the alleyway crash open and the soldiers yelling at him to drop his weapons and kneel down with his hands behind his head.

'Go' he screamed 'go, GO!' his knees buckling with relief as Suzie floored the accelerator and the van shot down the alley, tyres spinning and leaving rubber on the road. Calmly he placed his stun gun on the floor at arms length, knelt down and placed his hands as instructed. He imagined more than heard Jack's resurrective gasp but the last thing he saw was Jacks horrified wide-eyed gaze thorough the back window of the van as Owen slammed the doors closed. Then a tazer buzzed and Ianto's world turned black.


	10. Chapter 10

In the back of the transit van a naked Jack was incandescent with rage. 'Turn around' he screamed, 'turn this fucking van around. ' Bracing his arms against the side of the van Jack began kicking at the doors, which Owen had prudently locked, with his bare feet.

'Owen' yelled Suzie, 'can you calm our beloved leader down a bit please' effortlessly she threw the van around a sharp corner knocking Jack off of his feet and into the doctor. Jack scrambled up, surged to the front of the vehicle and placed his hands on Suzie's head

'Fuck off Jack' she snarled as she filtered onto the motorway and sped away from London

'Turn us around or I swear to god I will snap your neck'

Without looking back, Suzie punched Jack in the face. 'OWEN, deal with him'

'I'm trying' snarled Owen staggering up behind jack and wrapping the distraught man in his greatcoat, 'C'mon Captain, sit down and calm down.'

'We left him, he risked his life for me and we fucking left him behind, we have to go back' Jack struggled in Owen's restraining embrace, fighting to get up, making the body of the van rock and sway.

'OWEN! For fucks sake'

'OK, OK' replied Owen, 'C'mon Jack, time for a little nap, Owen pulled a capped syringe out of his pocket, pulled the cap off with his teeth and plunged it into Jack's thigh. Jack's eyes widened,

'You bastard' he slurred

'Just doing my job, sir' smirked Owen, gently guiding the semi-conscious man down to a mattress that he had thoughtfully placed on the floor of the van. Once he was satisfied that Jack was fully sedated, he covered him with a soft fleecy blanket and clambered into the passenger seat next to Suzie

'Well that was an almighty fuck up' he said companionably

Suzie shrugged, 'we wanted Jack, we got Jack – seems like a result to me'

Owen frowned, 'what about Jones?'

Yeah, pity about him' acknowledged Suzie, 'he actually did OK. I must admit at first I thought he was just another admin based James Bond wanna-be but he handled himself really well, all things considered.'

Owen wriggled himself into his seat and propped his feet up on the dashboard, 'You know Jack won't rest until he has Jones back?'

'Yeah, I've never seen him like this over part time shag'

Owen glanced over his shoulder at Jack who was moaning , trying to fight the effects of the sedative that Owen had given him, 'I don't know who Ianto Jones is' he said softly, 'but I'm pretty sure he's more than a part time shag as far as Jack in concerned.'

* * *

Ianto regained consciousness and immediately wished he hadn't, every inch of his body hurt and his head was pounding. He was cold and realised that he had been stripped of his own clothes and dressed in thin surgical scrubs. He tried to lay very still whilst he worked out where he was and what had happened to him. A vivid image floated into his mind of Jack Harkness' anguished gaze as Suzie drove him away from Ianto and off to safety and he could not keep back a small smile - he had done his job and got Jack away.

'Oh I do believe Mr Jones is back with us' purred a familiar voice, Yvonne Hartman, of course.

Slowly and painfully Ianto rolled his head to look at her, he blinked slowly, trying to focus. A clock on the wall behind Hartman told him he had been out for getting on for four hours. His eyes scanned the room, oh god he was back in lab 108, they had even put him on the same trolley Jack had been laying on, fastened him down with the same restraints, a spasm of pure terror shot through him and he began to shake. Hartman smiled grimly at him,

'Oh Mr Jones, what a lot of trouble you have caused me' she said, 'and what a lot of trouble you are in.' Ianto stared at her, her expression hardened, 'where have they taken him?'

Ianto gave a small laugh, 'I don't know'

Hartman leant over him, so close to him that he could see the coarse pores of her skin under her make-up, 'tell me where he is'

'I really don't know' insisted Ianto, 'It was obvious that I was the weakest link in this rescue attempt and that if anyone was going to caught it was me so we made sure that I knew nothing apart from my bit of the mission.'

Hartman laughed, sneeringly 'your bit of the mission, your bit of the mission? You are like a little boy playing at soldiers,' she laughed once more, 'I don't believe you, Jones. I don't believe that even that useless team of Jack Harkness' would take him back to Cardiff so there must have been some debate, some discussion about where to go. Now, tell me where he is'

Ianto closed his eyes, 'do what you like to me' he said wearily, 'I couldn't tell you anything even if I wanted to, the only thing I know, that I care about, is that Jack is out of your hands and I won't be the one to help you get him back in any way'

Hartman raised an eyebrow, 'Very well, Mr Jones if you insist on being so stubborn' she snapped her fingers and Lisa appeared and placed a red velvet bag in the Director's outstretched hand. Yvonne opened it and tipped the Ciccardian memory scoop into the palm of her hand. She held it up so that Ianto could see it.

'I'm afraid Captain Deveraux and his team may have trashed your flat,' she said with mock sorrow, 'but the good news is that this has found its way back to me, a most useful little device as Lisa here can attest' Over Hartman's shoulder Ianto could see his ex-girlfriend ginning smugly at the Director's acknowledgement of her. Hartman leaned in again to whisper in Ianto's ear, 'The funny thing about the Ciccardian memory scoop is, although it is very effective and painless when used upon a sleeping or unconscious...um...victim, when used on someone who is awake and alert I am told that the experience is quite, quite excruciating. Shall we find out?' and she gently placed the memory scoop on Ianto's forehead, stepping back abruptly as Ianto began to scream.

* * *

Suzie was curled up asleep, he feet up on the seat, her head resting on the passenger door window and Owen was staring at the motorway ahead with sleep filled eyes. They had stopped at a service station after three hours and Owen had taken over the driving, to give Suzie a rest. A quiet American voice behind him asked,

'Where are we?'

'Just coming up to Carlisle'

'What?'

Owen shrugged, 'no way we could take you back to Cardiff, Captain. It's the first place Hartman will look for you. We are heading up to Glasgow – Archie knows what's gone on and has a place you can hide out in for a while until something else captures London's attention.'

'But...Ianto...we have to...'

Owen looked in the rear view mirror and made contact with two red rimmed blue eyes. Uncomfortable with the pain he saw there he looked away and found himself staring at Jack's naked chest instead. 'For god's sake Jack, put some clothes on, there's a holdall back there with some stuff in it for you.' Jack raised an eyebrow and Owen smiled, 'It's you, Jack. Nakedness was always a strong possibility.'

Jack gave Owen a weak smile, hurriedly got dressed and resumed his seat behind Owen, arms resting on the back of the bench seat, chin resting on his hands. 'Thanks for coming to get me' he said.

'You can thank Jones for that. He contacted us as soon as he realised you were missing. He insisted on being the one who went in to bring you out. We owe him a lot, I'm sorry we had to leave him behind'

'Yeah' Jack's voice was soft and sorrowful, 'he's something special, alright. I think he is my Thousandth Man'

Owen snorted a laugh, 'thought that was a milestone you'd have passed a while ago, Captain'

Without moving or opening her eyes, Suzie recited;

'One man in a thousand, Solomon says.  
Will stick more close than a brother.  
And it's worth while seeking him half your days  
If you find him before the other.

Nine hundred and ninety-nine depend  
On what the world sees in you,  
But the Thousandth Man will stand your friend  
With the whole round world agin you.

It's a poem, by Rudyard Kipling, Harper, you moron.'

'I knew that' said Owen defensively, in the mirror he locked eyes with Jack again, 'and that's what you feel Jones is to you, is it?'

'That and so much more' said Jack quietly. There didn't seem anything to say after that, so the three of them remained silent as they sped northwards.

* * *

It felt to Ianto as if he had been screaming forever. The pain in his head was unbelievable; it felt as if someone was slicing his brain into thin pieces with a very sharp knife. It felt as if experiencing pain and screaming were all he had done for the whole of his life until, suddenly, the memory scoop was removed and the pain stopped as if it had been turned off by a switch. He lay on the gurney sweat soaked and shaking.

'Thank god that's over, 'said Hartman, 'I couldn't have taken much more. How long was that Lisa?'

Lisa clicked the stopwatch she was holding, '27 minutes, Director'

'Hmm longer and agonising when the subject is conscious' she bestowed an insincere smile on Ianto, 'see you are helping us already, Mr Jones. '

Lisa was already downloading the material from the memory scoop and scrolling through the recording, she was running a voice based keyword recognition programme that Torchwood One had developed. After five minutes she removed her earphones and shook her head, 'sorry Director, the programme hasn't picked up any discussion of where they planned to take Harkness once they had "liberated" him. He was telling the truth, he doesn't know where Harkness is'

'Damn' snarled Hartman. She turned back to face Ianto but at that moment Lisa's mobile trilled, she read the text message and then cleared her throat

'Er..Director?'

'What?'

Lisa held up her phone, 'text message from Dr Singh. The next ghost shift is scheduled in an hour. He reports that the energy from the void is more powerful than ever. He thinks you should be there for the next shift'

Hartman moved across to where Ianto was laying and leant on the edge of the trolley companionably, 'You see my problem, Mr Jones' she said running her fingers through Ianto's hair smirking at his obvious discomposure , 'I can't just let you go and I have much more important things to concern myself with right now. I don't want to have you killed because I'm sure that sooner or later Harkness will come looking for you so, you see, you have some use to me as...bait but the question is where to put you?'

Lisa spoke up 'The Pharm?'

Hartman considered for a moment, 'Hmm good idea, my dear but I'd like to keep Dr. Copley's activities off the Torchwood Cardiff radar for as long as possible.' She gazed into the distance and tapped her finger nails on Ianto's forehead, then she snapped her fingers and laughed triumphantly, 'I've got it! Cynnal tŷ pen.'

'Cynnal tŷ pen, Director?'

Hartman gave one of her crocodile smiles, 'It's a small facility in the Brecon Beacons that is run for the exclusive use of the Director of Torchwood One and the Commander-in-Chief of UNIT. It's where we store people that we may want to use one day but don't want hanging around where they may be an embarrassment– hence the name'

'The name, Director?' Lisa sounded piuzzled

Ianto spoke up, 'Cynnal tŷ pen – Holding pen house'

'Well done, Mr Jones' Hartman patted Ianto patronisingly on the head, then turned and swept out of the lab saying to Lisa as she did so, 'arrange his sedation and transfer to Cynnal tŷ pen then come join me in Dr Singh's lab.'

Once she had gone Lisa moved to stand looking down at Ianto, she placed a bitter and sarcastic kiss on his forehead, 'Bye Ianto. '

* * *

Dawn was breaking as the transit van pulled up outside of an ordinary looking semi-detached house on the outskirts of Glasgow. Owen gently shook Suzie awake, scooting back hurriedly as she twisted and grabbed him around the throat

'Jeezuz Costello, it's no surprise to me you are not in a relationship' wheezed Owen as Suzie let go of him.

'Sorry' mumbled Suzie with a yawn, 'I've warned you about that before. Are we here?'

'Yeah, better wake the Captain' he jerked a thumb towards the back of the van where Jack was curled into a tight ball, snuffling in his sleep.

Suzie leant over the seat and gently shook Jack awake, choking as Jack surged up from the mattress and fastened his hands around her throat before he woke up sufficiently to realise what he was doing. Owen nearly swallowed his own tongue trying not to laugh. The door of the house opened and Archie was beckoning them urgently.

Once inside, Archie enveloped Jack in a big hug, 'Glad to see you, Captain.' He turned and shook hands with Owen and Suzie, 'good to meet you both at last. I've just been speaking to Tosh, everything's OK at her end and your guest has arrived, he's in the kitchen'

Suzie and Owen began to follow Archie then faltered as they realised that Jack hadn't moved. He was standing in the hallway with his arms crossed across his chest and a look of fury on his face.

'Ok' he said, 'I am at the end of my patience. I don't like being out of the loop and I don't like my team organising things that concern me without including me. So you tell me what the fuck is going on, right now or I walk out of here and take that van straight back to London so that I can torture Yvonne Hartman until she tells me what she has done with Ianto. '

The kitchen door opened and a thin shadowy figure moved into the hallway, 'Jack. Come and have some breakfast and let us tell you our plan'

Jack's jaw dropped, 'Doctor? What are you doing here?'

'C'mon Jack,' he said gently, 'have something to eat and let's talk.'

Wordlessly Jack followed the Doctor into Archie's kitchen where a substantial breakfast was waiting.


	11. Chapter 11

'We knew you would want to get the Jones boy back,' said the Doctor, his mouth full of bacon, 'and to do that you would need the resources of the Hub, but we also knew that, once Hartman worked that out, Cardiff would be the first place she would look for you. Clever Toshiko Sato has put the hub into lockdown and she's in there now, she has hacked into Torchwood London and is keeping an eye on what they are up to. Owen and Suzie kept to main roads in the same van they snatched you in so that it would be easy for Hartman to follow you,' He frowned, 'frankly I'm appalled that Hartman doesn't seem to have tracked you to here yet, I don't know what Torchwood One is coming to.'

Owen took up the story, 'The plan is for Suzie and I to head back to Cardiff, making Hartman believe we have left you here. She'll want you back, Jack so she'll send her best team up here to get you. As well as wasting Hartman's time and resources, with her best people out of the way it will make it easier for us to snatch Jones back. We head ostentatiously back down the M6, you go back to Cardiff the quick way with the Doctor, in the Tardis and then we work out how we are gonna get Jones back for you.'

Jack closed his eyes and swallowed hard, 'that...that sounds like a good plan, thank you.' He surveyed his friends and team mates; _I have underestimated all of them_ he thought sadly.

The Doctor was watching Jack carefully, almost as if he knew what was going through Jack's mind. To Jack's surprise he reached across the table and squeezed his hand, 'You need time to process what Hartman did to you, Jack,' he said softly, 'come with me in the Tardis, let her take some time heal you and I can still get you back to Cardiff before we've left here.'

Archie nodded, 'go on, lad,' he said kindly, 'go get your young man back. We'll deal with everything else.'

* * *

Ianto decided he was really, really tired of being rendered unconscious, whether violently or pharmacologically, it made his head ache and he felt sick. Cautiously he sat up, the bed he was on was reasonably soft and comfortable and the room he was in seemed to have a small bathroom off to one side. From the barred window he could see well tended gardens and over a razor wire topped wall, green hills. _Cynnal tŷ pen I assume_ thought Ianto, fear clenching at his bowels_, oh God what is going to happen to me, what are they going to do to me?_ The locked door clunked open and two men entered. One remained by the door with his hand on the butt of his gun, whilst the short, white coated man walked up to where Ianto was sitting on the edge of the bed.

'Welcome to Cynnal tŷ pen, Mr Jones, My name is Doctor Malcolm Parry. I'm the Director of this facility and I double as the medical officer for our human patients, so, you see, I'll be responsible for your well-being while you are with us.' He pulled down the lower lids of Ianto's eye to gaze into them, then produced a stethoscope and gestured for Ianto to raise the tee-shirt in which he was dressed in order to listen to his heart and lungs.

'How long will I be kept here' said Ianto, cursing himself for the tremor in his voice

'Until Director Hartman decides what she wants to do with you' said Dr Parry,

'What will happen to me?'

Parry looked at the Guard on the door, 'remind me, what category is he?'

The guard consulted his PDA 'Category B, Sir' he said

Parry smiled, Ianto decided that he didn't much care for it. Parry took a step back and looked Ianto up and down, he quirked an eyebrow, 'Category B means you aren't seen as a immediate information source, so you are in no danger of physical violence, for the moment at least. Behave yourself, do as you are told and don't make trouble and you will be fine' Ianto felt weak with relief but then Parry unzipped his pants, pulled out his hardening cock and tangled his fingers into Ianto's hair before he continued, ' Don't you worry, Jones, someone as pretty as you will find it very easy to earn your keep whilst you wait for Director Hartman to send for you' and he pushed his penis into Ianto's mouth.

* * *

Jack lay, dozing, on his old bed in the Tardis, she was singing to him, sending soothing emanations into his room in an attempt to soothe him. He had been drifting in an out of sleep for what felt like days, but whenever he woke the Tardis was a comforting presence in his mind, healing the psychological scars of ancient fears. There was a quiet tap on the door and the Doctor stuck his head round.

'Can I come in' he enquired tentatively

Jack pushed himself up and leant back against his pillows, 'Sure' he patted the bed next to him, smiling as the doctor pointedly sat down in and armchair across the room.

'How are you doing, Jack'

Jack summoned up a grin, 'I'm fine. You know me Doc, I'm always fine.'

The Doctor frowned, 'don't lie to me, Jack, she..' he waved a vague hand in the air to indicate the Tardis, 'told me some of what you went through.'

Jack's eyes darkened, 'It's over and done. Not worth thinking about'

'So that's what you do is it? Lock it away, never think about it?'

Jack nodded, 'I've had a long time to perfect the technique, Doc' he gave a bitter laugh, 'you think this is the first time I've been tortured, been experimented upon? '

The Doctor looked at the man on the bed, Jack was sitting with his knees apart and the soles of his bare feet pressed together, feigning interest in his toes _I owe this man so much_ thought the Doctor, _I don't even know how to begin apologising to him for what Rose and I did to him, I don't know how to tell him how proud I am of him_. He felt his Tardis sending him an image of a well dressed young man and just a small sense of the vast amount of love and trust that Jack unconsciously projected when thinking of him. The doctor stood up and went to stretch out on the bed next to Jack. He placed a soft kiss on the back of Jack's neck and pulled him back into an embrace. 'Tell me about Ianto Jones' he said softly

Jack smiled, 'He's loyal, intelligent, witty, makes the best coffee in the universe, looks good in a suit' he chuckled, 'looks incredible out of a suit, he's beautiful and his cock is...' the Doctor shifted uncomfortably and Jack grinned,' he's loving and brave and he...he...' Jack began to cry, quietly, 'he risked himself to save me and no-one has ever done that for me before, Doc, no-one. He knows I can't die but he risked himself to save me anyway.'

The Doctor held Jack tightly, 'why do you think he did that, Jack?' Jack shrugged, the Doctor slid two fingers under Jack's chin to raise his head from his chest, so that he could look into Jack's face, 'why, Jack?' he insisted

'Because he loves me?' whispered Jack. The Doctor nodded. 'But, I'm wrong, I'm not a good man' choked out Jack, 'how can I possibly be deserving of his love?'

'Oh Jack' the Doctor thought his hearts were breaking, 'you ARE a good man, Ianto Jones thinks so and he sounds like a man whose opinion you can trust and...I think so too. I think you are the best man that I have ever met and I'm sorry if I haven't made that clear enough to you' Jack clung to him and cried like a small child, whilst the Doctor held him close and the Tardis sent soft waves of affection through the room.

* * *

It seemed to Jack that he had been asleep for hours when a soft chiming note woke him. His emotional breakdown had exhausted him and the Doctor had held him as he fell asleep. He felt cleansed, refreshed and back in control. Things were simple, he loved Ianto Jones, Ianto Jones loved him and Jack would pull Torchwood apart with his bare hands if that's what it took to get Ianto back at his side and in his arms. Jack bounced down the corridor and into the control room. The Doctor turned and smiled at him as he entered

'Jack! You look better'

Jack smiled back, 'Yeah, much better...thanks Doctor.' He placed a hand on the Tardis console_, thank you too sweetheart,_ he thought, and smiled as a warm presence caressed his mind.

'Any time Jack, we are both happy to help – we both love you.'

Love you both too' said Jack sincerely. The moment was broken by the sound of dematerialisation

The Doctor grinned, 'here you are, sir – home again.'

Jack paused at the door, 'Thanks Doc. You coming?'

The Doctor shook his head, I think I'll call in at Torchwood One, have a little chat with the Director, remind her about then level of courtesy that should be extended to my companions. Maybe have a look at what projects she is running as well, just to be on the safe side.'

'OK' Jack saluted and ran out of the Tardis, barely making it through the doors before it dematerialised.

He skidded to a halt in shock as he found himself face to face with Tosh... flanked by Suzie and Owen.

'What? How?' Jack stammered in confusion. How could Suzie and Owen be there? The Doctor had promised he would get back to the Hub five minutes before they left Glasgow.

'JACK!' he staggered back as he found himself with an armful of a delighted Toshiko Sato, 'Where the hell have you been? We have been so worried'

Over the top of Tosh's head Jack's eyes met Owen Harper's, 'Jack mate' said Owen, reluctantly, 'you have been missing for over three weeks.'


	12. Chapter 12

Ianto walked out into the sunshine, paused and raised his face up to the sky. He did that every time he was allowed out into the grounds of his prison. His guards thought it was it was because he missed the feel of the sun and the breeze on his skin and, to some extent that was true; but Ianto had also seen a spy movie once in which the hero, who was being held in a foreign prison, did the same thing. The rationale behind the action was to show his face to any spy satellite passing overhead, so that any people who were looking for him would know he was still alive and where he was. Ianto knew it was a long shot, he didn't know if spy satellites were that sensitive or even if anyone actually was looking for him. He had been at Cynnal tŷ pen for three weeks or so as far as he could tell. His days all blended into one another. Parry visited him regularly and had graduated from demanding blow jobs and hand jobs to fucking, pounding into Ianto hard and silently, two or three times a week. After the first time it had happened a guard entered Ianto's cell an hour later and mutely handed him an Ian Fleming novel. The message from Parry was clear, _give me what I want and your life will be easier_, it had brought a grim smile to Ianto's lips, it was obviously Parry's way of convincing himself that his "dalliances" with Ianto were consensual . His father had done much the same thing. Today's trip outside was the result of providing an hour's "entertainment" to Parry and one of his friends. It had made walking painful but, Ianto thought sadly it was worth it to get out into the fresh air.

He wandered over to his favourite bench under a willow tree, his guards lingering a few paces behind him. In general, the guards seemed to be fairly sympathetic to the quiet young man. He caused them no trouble and, once they had discovered his coffee making skills they were inclined to try to make thing less miserable for him when they could, although none of them attempted to intervene to bring a stop to Parry's sexual abuse of him. Ianto didn't blame them, he understood that, like him, they were doing whatever they had to do to survive, that was just how Torchwood worked, how it made you in the end. Gingerly, he sat down and then put his head in his hands. _I know you will come for me Jack_, he thought miserably, _but I really wish you would hurry up. I don't know how much longer I can do this. I-I'm scared and I miss you, please, please come get me._

* * *

Jack sat at the head of the table in the conference room and picked half heartedly at the Chinese food that Toshiko had taken delivery of for the whole team. He was contemplating the fluidity of time. He knew that the Doctor had kept him in the Tardis for more than a few days whilst he healed psychologically both from being Hartman's prisoner and also from the painful memories that the experience had stirred in him. He knew that without the intervention of the Doctor and, more importantly, the Tardis he would be even more of a mess inside his head than he was right now but... 'Fuck, fuck, fuck' he slammed his hand on the table, making Suzie jump and upsetting a carton of shrimp fried rice, 'he's a fucking time lord – how can he have got it so wrong? We were supposed to be back here before we left Glasgow instead he over shoots by three weeks and ...oh sweet gods, Ianto, what has happened to Ianto? ' he looked at his team with desperation, noticing with sick dread how they all avoided his eyes.

Tosh, who was sitting next to Jack took a hold of his wrist, 'Jack you have to calm down' she said, 'there are a lot of things we have to tell you before we start to talk about Ianto. For a start, Torchwood One is gone.'

Jack stared at her, 'Gone? What do you mean gone? Gone like Four is gone, or...'

'Destroyed' said Tosh bluntly, 'virtually levelled'

'But...why...how?' Jack's shock and bewilderment rendered him almost incoherent.

Suzie took up the narrative, 'Hartman was experimenting with a sphere that had come through the void, she thought she had found a source of limitless energy, thought it would release us from our dependency on overseas oil, make Britain great again, queen and country, all that crap. You know what she was like... The so-called ghost shifts that she thought were a side effect of trying to manipulate the void were really the precursors of an invasion force,' she paused, 'have you heard of Cybermen, Jack'

Jack nodded, 'a hideous souless race' he said, 'they convert races into Cybermen like themselves, just one can conquer a whole planet in a little under two weeks. If Hartman let Cybermen into Torchwood Tower, she was opening herself up to a world of hurt.'

Wordlessly Tosh called up the CCTV she had recovered from the Torchwood server and the Cardiff team watched silently as Hartman was struck down by a Cybermen as it materialised from the void. Jack let out a small exclamation of horror as he recognised Lisa Hallett who was one of the first to be dragged off screaming to the conversion units, but when the sphere opened and the Dalek army began to emerge. Jack jumped to his feet in a panic, 'turn it off, turn it OFF.'

Tosh did so and turned to Jack who was visibly shaking, 'Canary Wharf fell.' It was a statement not a question but Toshiko nodded anyway

'How many died?'

Tosh lowered her head, '796'

'Oh gods'

Owen chipped in, 'it could have been a lot worse, Captain. The Doctor turned up at the last minute and managed to send the lot of them packing, back into the void.'

'Fantastic' snarked Jack, although it seemed to his team that his voice broke slightly, 'he manages the right time and place for everyone else'

'Not for the 796 who died' pointed out Owen, ignoring the glares that both Tosh and Suzie sent his way.

Tosh took hold of Jack's hand and pulled him back into his seat, 'please, Jack sit down.'

Jack buried his head in his hands, 'go on' he said dully

'We went through the ruins as soon as we could,' Suzie declared, 'I'm pretty sure we got most of their tech – ya know, stop it falling into the wrong hands...'

'Yeah, like UNIT's, for example' muttered Tosh bitterly.

Suzie glared at her for the interruption, 'anyway' she continued, 'Owen and I liberated whatever tech we could get our hands on, most of it is down in the archives waiting for you to identify what you can, and Tosh pretty much cleared everything off their main server.'

'Good work, team' said Jack. He fell silent, staring into the distance but then gradually he began to smile, 'Hartman is dead. Torchwood will be in disarray. If Ianto is being held somewhere that is linked to Torchwood London it may make it easier to get him back.'

Tosh nodded then added hesitantly and softly 'I can't find him, Jack. I've tried and tried. There is no record of what Hartman's orders were, no clue as to where he is being held or what she planned to do with him. I'm sorry, Jack, if he was still being held in Torchwood Tower when the void and the sphere opened I think there is a very good chance that he might be dead.'

'No' said Jack firmly, 'I can't believe that, I won't. If he was dead we'd have found his body.'

Owen cleared his throat uncomfortably, 'not necessarily, Jack' he said gently, 'When the doctor opened the void a lot of...' he paused, 'collateral damage occurred'

Jack frowned, 'what do you mean "collateral damage", Owen'

'Not all of the 796 died in the battle, a far few were sucked into the void with the Cybermen and Dalek armies.'

'No' said Jack again, but with more certainty than previously ' if he was gone I would know it, I would feel it. There must be other things can try, other things we can do'

Tosh hesitated, then said 'One of the programmes I liberated from Canary Wharf is a facial recognition/tracking worm. I can set it running and it will scan everyone on the planet across a variety of digital activities. It picks up all CCTV, credit card transactions, phone calls, everything. It accesses any and all digital data streams. Make a phone call in middle of the Sahara Desert this little programme will find you, and if there is more than an 80% chance of a match I can set it to redirect a satellite to get a visual'

Owen whistled, 'that is so cool.' Suzie nodded in agreement

Tosh smiled, 'It's amazing' she threw a quick glance at Jack, 'It's too advanced and sophisticated to be anything but alien.'

'You had this programme and you didn't bother using before now?' asked Jack his tone furious

Owen jumped in, 'Torchwood One was down, You were gone, we didn't know where, no-one knew when or even if you were gonna be back, Suzie and I were in London salvaging everything we could, Tosh was working 24/7 to retrieve what she could from the server AND dealing with whatever the rift was throwing at her here in Cardiff so forgive us if finding your lastest fuck toy was not number one on our things-to-do list, OK Jack?

Suzie and Tosh just kept their heads down, they did not want to get in the middle of an Owen and Jack fight, but Jack surprised them by refusing to take Owen on. He turned back to Tosh, 'how long will that take' he enquired, not really interested in anything but the task in hand.

'To scan all seven billion people on the planet' said Tosh, 'using this programme, about forty-eight hours. And...Jack, it was virtually the last thing I pulled from London, honestly'

'Ok Tosh' said Jack placing a conciliatory hand on her shoulder, 'do it.'

'Ok; said Tosh, 'I can set it running now, using Ianto's picture and biometric data from his personnel file and it will ping me if it gets a match.

Jack placed a gentle kiss on Tosh's forehead, 'Toshiko Sato, you are a genius'

Tosh smiled back and pulled her laptop towards her, 'OK Jack, let's find Ianto for you.'


	13. Chapter 13

Once Tosh had set her global tracking programme running and changed the settings so that it would send hourly updates to her laptop and ping her mobile if it found a likely match for Ianto , Jack sent her and the others home. Jack slid wearily down the ladder that led to the tiny bunker under his office. He was exhausted, somehow travelling with the Doctor always messed with his circadian rhythms; automatically he stripped off his clothes and threw himself on his bed. His brain was reeling with the things he had learnt from Tosh, Suzie and Owen. _Torchwood One destroyed, Hartman dead, Lisa Hallett converted and presumably destroyed or lost into the void and...oh dear sweet goddess, Ianto_ he thought, _Hartman has had him stashed away for over three weeks and he's somewhere that not even Tosh can find him. What must he be going through? What must he be thinking of me? _Jack closed his eyes and, almost against his will, fell into sleep.

Underneath the streets of Cardiff, Jack dreamed.

He was standing in what seemed to be a well appointed prison cell. Off to his left was a door-less bathroom and faintly through the uncurtained, barred window he could see what seemed to be a dark well tended garden. He was pleased and unsurprised to find himself naked. Moonlight filled the room and Jack could clearly see the young man curled in a foetal position on the bed, he had his face turned to the wall and his back to him, dark hair curling over his neck. The young man was also naked and the moonlight painted his pale skin with a pearlescent glow. Jack knew with certainty who it was.

'Ianto'

Jack walked slowly across the room and lay down behind the boy on the bed. Their bodies fit together as if they had been purposefully design so to do. With a soft sigh, Jack slid his cock between Ianto's buttocks, relishing the fleshy warmth they provided. His hand fell almost naturally over Ianto's hip splaying out to rest upon his stomach, just above the younger man's hard, hot cock. Almost mesmerised, Jack stroked the soft skin, allowing the tips of his fingers to slip accidentally into the think curls of pubic hair at the base of Ianto's erection.

Ianto gave a soft groan, 'Jack'

With a smile, Jack kissed him on the spot on his neck that he had noticed before made Ianto's breathing hitch in a most interesting way and began to gently rub his dick between Ianto's arse cheeks. Ianto squeezed the muscles in his arse, causing Jack's breathing to do some interesting hitching of its own. Ianto pushed himself back against Jack's chest. Jack began to gently rock himself, the slow friction causing a slow bloom of warmth to coil in his belly. Ianto moaned softly and moved his hand to cover Jack's in an effort to move it to cover his cock, Jack bit Ianto's shoulder gently and placed his hand exactly where Ianto wanted it to be.

For a long time the cell was silent save for the barely audible pants and moans of the two men until Ianto murmured softly, 'Jack, please, please' The soft welsh tones and the indefinable need in the young man's voice coupled with the sensory overload Jack was experiencing just from having the man he loved back in his arms triggered Jack's orgasm and he came strongly spurting his ejaculate over his own stomach and up Ianto's back. Gasping and sobbing from his own release he grasped Ianto's cock and began to stroke and massage it until with a hoarse scream Ianto came over Jack's hand and all over the wall.

Panting and sweating, Jack rested his forehead against the back of Ianto's head and placed a breathless kiss on the nape of his neck. To his amazement Ianto shuddered and came again, almost as powerfully as before. With a broad smile Jack pulled Ianto even closer in his embrace; the sweat and semen on their skin making them slide against each other with a sensation of silk causing both men to sigh with contentment.

Jack leant forward and whispered into Ianto's ear, 'I'm sorry you've been here so long. I've been away, it was longer than I hoped, but I'm back now and I swear I will find you and get you out of here.'

Ianto still hadn't turned to face him, 'I know you will'

A tear was sliding down Jack's cheek, when it hit Ianto's cold skin it burned like acid, 'I love you' said Jack softly.

'I know you do' Ianto was moving, starting to turn in his arms, 'I love you too'

And Jack woke up.

* * *

In the Brecon Beacons, 55 miles away from the hub; Ianto dreamed

He was curled on his bed, facing the wall because the moonlight through the uncurtained, barred window, usually kept him awake. He gradually became aware that he was not alone in his cell. A delicious scent tickled his nose and he knew without having to turn that Jack was with him. A soft voice broke the silence of the room,

'Ianto'

A warm, naked body insinuated itself into his bed and curved around him. A thick and erect penis slotted between his buttocks and a soft sigh of satisfaction stirred the hair on Ianto's neck. Large fingers stroked the skin of his stomach and paused to tangle themselves in Ianto's pubic hair. Ianto's cock was so hot and so hard but Jack seemed to be content just to touch, tease and tantalize. Ianto groaned

'Jack'

A gentle kiss was placed on that spot, the one that once Jack had found it and seen how it made Ianto unravel had been his delight to kiss and fondle as often as he could. With a small smile Ianto tensed his buttock muscles, grinning broadly as Jack began to gently rub against him and his breathing began to stutter. Ianto was getting impatient he could tell by the urgent movements of Jack's hips that his lover was close to his orgasm but Ianto's balls were so hard he needed urgently to come. With a tiny moan he took Jack's hand and pushed it towards his groin, desperate to feel Jack's warm hand against his already heated flesh. When Jack touched his cock for the first time in so long Ianto had to bite his lip to stop himself from coming on the spot. Jack was alternating hard strokes with feather light touches until Ianto couldn't take it any longer.

'Jack, please, please'

The sensation of Jack coming strongly between them, spurting his come up Ianto's back and across his own chest, pushed Ianto into his own orgasm which splattered up the wall in front of him. Heart racing, Ianto allowed Jack to pull him even closer and when Jack placed a tender kiss on the nape of his neck Ianto shuddered strongly and came once more. His eye widened in shock; that had never happened to him before

Jack whispered into his ear, 'I'm sorry you've been here so long. I've been away, it was longer than I hoped, but I'm back now and I swear I will find you and get you out of here.'

Ianto frowned, what did Jack mean he would find him? He must know where he was being held; he was here with him now wasn't he? But Jack sounded so devastated and Ianto needed him to know that he believed in him and still trusted him, 'I know you will'

'I love you' said Jack softly.

'I know you do' Ianto was moving, starting to turn in his arms, he needed to see Jack, 'I love you too'

And Ianto woke up.

* * *

For a brief second after he woke, Jack lay, disorientated. The dream had been so vivid, the emotions and the sensations so very strong that for a moment he expected Ianto to still be in his arms. With a heavy sigh Jack rolled onto his back, grimacing at the sticky mess on his abdomen and chest; he reached out and switched on his bedside lamp. The bright light seemed to stab into his eye balls so he turned his head to face the wall, then he froze, a large splash of semen was staining the brickwork. For a second Jack lay there staring, then he leapt to his feet and charged, naked, through the hub to the medical bay. He rummaged through the drawers until he found the necessary equipment for taking a DNA swab, pausing only to grab a pen from the souvenir Cardiff mug Owen used as a pen holder, he ran back to his bunker.

Once there, he carefully swabbed his stomach, labelling the swab container DNA 1 – Harkness. Jack then leant across the narrow bed and repeated the procedure on the semen stain on the wall. He labelled the second sample DNA 2 – Unknown. He sprinted back to the medical bay and inserted both specimens into the 31st century DNA sequencer that had drifted through the rift and was Owen's pride and joy. Not wanting to think about what the irascible medic would say if he could see him messing around with his most precious piece of medical kit, whilst waiting for the results, Jack began to re-run his dream in his mind, the memory of the feel and the taste of Ianto starting to make him hard once more. An insistent beeping pulled Jack from his reverie, shivering slightly, _should have put some clothes on before I started this,_ he told himself, as he sent the results to Tosh's work station and sprinted back into the Hub.

Settling down in front of Tosh's computer Jack pulled up the results from the DNA sequencer;

SAMPLE 1 - HARKNESS : TORCHWOOD THREE DATABASE SERCHED - 100% MATCH : HARKNESS, JACK

SAMPLE 2 - UNKNOWN: TORCHWOOD THREE DATABASE SERCHED - NO MATCH FOUND

Jack frowned, then typed in another instruction

WIDEN SEARCH *SAMPLE 2* TO TORCHWOOD ONE DATABASE.

The cursor on the screen flashed for a few seconds then;

SAMPLE 2 – TORCHWOOD ONE DATABASE SERCHED - 100% MATCH: JONES, IANTO

Jack stared at the screen in disbelief, 'How the hell can that be?' he said aloud, 'It was a dream, just a dream, how can Ianto's sperm be in my bed?'

The sound of a throat being cleared behind him made Jack swing round

'Tosh! I sent you home, why are you back here less than five hours later?'

'Couldn't sleep and what you said about not thinking to look for Ianto before now made me feel bad, so I came back to check the programme' Tosh blushed painfully and quickly looked down at her shoes, 'er, Jack, why are you using my work station, naked?'

Jack looked down and made a half hearted attempt to cover himself , 'well, I'm glad to see you, some really weird shit is going on, I need your wisdom and your help.'

'First thing you need Jack is to put some clothes on' said Tosh firmly 'and I will make us some coffees, then we'll talk, OK?'

'OK' docilely Jack headed back to his office and Tosh stood for a moment absent mindedly appreciating his muscular arse before shaking herself and heading to the kitchen.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, a newly showered and fully clothed Jack was back in the Hub and draping himself over Tosh's shoulder as she waited for him on the scruffy sofa. She smiled up at him,

'There's the dashing and, more importantly, well dressed Captain we know and love'

Jack grinned back at her 'believe it, baby'

Tosh patted the cushion beside her on the sofa, 'tell me about your "weird shit" then, Jack' she invited.

When Jack had finished his story and shown Tosh the DNA results she sat back and slid her glasses up to the top of her head.

'Well, first off,' she said, 'you do know that Owen will kill you for touching the DNA sequencer, don't you?' Jack gave an unrepentant grin. Tosh continued, 'and, if I have this right, you had a sex dream about being with Ianto in a secure unit somewhere and when you woke up there were fresh traces of both his and your semen in your bed.'

'Yeah'

Tosh shrugged, 'I don't know what you tell you, Jack. As far as I know we have no tech on the archives that you cause this extreme type of lucid dreaming. Could it be a hangover from the time you spent with the Doctor?

Jack looked thoughtful, 'The Tardis has a low level telepathic field, she was in my head for a long time. She was...she was...' Jack's voice broke and Tosh took hold of his hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. Jack took a deep breath and continued, 'she was helping to heal me after you guys pulled me from Canary Wharf. I don't know how long I was with the Doctor, time moved differently for me than it did for you, but the Tardis was in my mind all of that time, so I guess it could be that.'

'Do you think it's a permanent thing?' asked Tosh, fascinated

'Dunno' Jack shrugged, 'If it means I have a connection to him then, gods, I hope so'

'We could do a brain scan' suggested Tosh, 'see if anything shows up'

'Yeah' Jack didn't sound too enthusiastic, 'for the time being let's keep this between us, eh Tosh? If it happens again, I'll talk to Owen, OK'

Tosh opened her mouth to remonstrate but was interrupted by a shrill beeping from her console. She jumped to her feet and ran across to her work station, closely followed by Jack. Muttering under her breath in Japanese, she typed in a long string of commands. Although he was no slouch at programming, the code she was using meant nothing to Jack,

'Tosh?'

Tosh waved an impatient hand and continued typing and muttering

'TOSH!'

Toshiko pulled up a new window and turned to Jack with a triumphant smile illuminating her pretty face,

'Jack, I've found him!' she pulled up a picture of Ianto Jones, eyes closed, head tilted back, face illuminated by sunlight.

Jack laughed, happily, 'look at him. Showing his face to passing satellites, my clever, gorgeous, brilliant, beautiful boy – my Ianto.'

Tosh's smile widened also, as she pulled up map references and co-ordinates 'he is in the Brecon Beacons,' she typed more commands and a map reference appeared next to the picture. 'a place called Cynnal tŷ pen' she frowned and pulled up more information on her other screens, 'It's supposedly a retreat owned by a small religious group but dig a bit deeper and it turns out they are a shell company and the funding for the place comes from UNIT and Torchwood London, the finances are under the direct personal control of the commander in chief of UNIT (UK) and the Director of Torchwood London.

Jack was still staring at the image on the screen, 'I've found you sweetheart' he whispered, 'hold on. I'm coming for you, I promise'


	14. Chapter 14

Malcolm Parry was having a shit of a day and it was only 8.30 in the morning. He had been away from Cynnal tŷ pen for a couple of days attending a conference, ironically, on the health care needs of refugee and torture victims. Calling in at his office on his return, late the previous evening, he found he had received an e-mail informing him that the new Director Designate of Torchwood London was coming to inspect the Cynnal tŷ pen facility, first thing the following day. He had walked into the office that morning to find an incident report on his desk recording that Jones had slipped in the bathroom and sustained minor injuries; the report was dated two days previously. The guards who found him reported that Jones had stated he had been half asleep and disorientated from a vivid dream and had stumbled on his way to get some water. Parry had immediately examined Ianto to find that although the young man had no long term injuries he did have a very impressive bruise along one side of his face. Suggestions of physical abuse were the last thing Parry needed with an inspection visit from the so-far unknown Director Designate of Torchwood One in the offing. If there was an investigation, Parry's other...activities may come to light, and that would never do. With a heavy sigh he looked out of his office window at the long shiny black limousine that was pulling up outside the front door, curious to see the man who was going to be such a pain in his arse today.

A slim woman chauffeur got out, moved to the left side of the car and opened the door for her passenger. Parry gasped. A long shapely leg covered in a sheer silk stocking and ending in a bright red stiletto shoe appeared. The woman who emerged from the back of the car was stunning, slim, blonde, and statuesque. She was dressed in a dark charcoal grey suit, the skirt of which ended just above her knees. The outfit was complemented by a scarlet blouse which matched her shoes and her long lacquered nails perfectly. A tear drop black jade pendant nestled between her breasts, drawing Parry's eye to her cleavage. He had already noted that, unlike many tall women she did not favour flat shoes, and her four-inch high heels took her height to well over six feet and made her hips sway attractively as she flipped her long hair over her shoulder, confidently negotiated the gravel pathway and entered the building. Wiping his suddenly sweaty palms on the sides of his trousers, Parry hurried out to meet the Director Designate of the new Torchwood One.

'Helena Carter' the woman's voice was husky, low and full of promise, 'I have been looking forward to meeting you, Dr Parry'

Parry dredged up a simpering smile, 'I was not informed that the new Director Designate was so...' he tailed off when he noted that Helena was regarding him with distaste, he coughed and gestured towards his office, 'Can I offer you coffee before we start our tour, Director.'

Helena smiled charmingly, 'that would be lovely, Dr Parry.'

Parry turned to his PA, 'Could you arrange coffee please, Michael?' He arrested the young man by placing a finger on his arm, he lowered his voice, 'tell Jones to make it' he added.

When he followed Ms Carter into his office she was standing in front of a framed plan of the whole of the Cynnal tŷ pen facility.

'This is all most impressive' she said, 'I'm amazed that Torchwood and UNIT have managed to keep it off the radar for so long.'

Parry preened, 'the...ahem...residents we have here are all high risk threats. The invisibility of this place is crucial to national security.'

'Hmm' Carter seemed prepared to be impressed, 'I imagine that the security systems are would have to be state of the art.'

There was a tap on the door and Michael entered with a tray holding a French press, a jug of hot milk, two cups and a plate of biscuits. Michael placed the tray on a low table, offered Helena and small smile and left. Parry noted how Helena's eyes watched the young man's departure.

'Coffee, Director?'

Helena took the proffered cup and took a sip. Her finely sculptured eyebrows rose, 'This is incredible' she murmured

Parry smiled, 'one of our residents has a real flair for coffee making. Try one of the almond and pistachio cookies, they're his specialty... Director, forgive me but, are you alright?'

Helena had turned abruptly away and was staring out of the window, biting her lip. As Parry placed a hand on her shoulder and she swung to face him, her face impassive 'I'm fine, thank you.' She cleared her throat, 'right then, she said briskly, 'Show me everything, please.'

* * *

Four hours later and Parry was exhausted but had developed a huge respect for Helena Carter. The Director Designate really had seen everything from the computer servers in the basement to the medical bay on the top floor; she had been over every inch of Cynnal tŷ pen. She had spent nearly an hour with the Head of Security and had reviewed every security system and protocol in the place and had grasped everything amazingly quickly. She had examined the computer systems and almost reduced the Head of I.T to tears with her interrogation of him during her examination of the entire IT systems. All of Parry's staff looked exhausted and disheveled as if they were at the end of a hard seventy-two hour shift; Helena on the other had looked as cool and immaculate as she had when she first arrived.

Seated in a chair in Parry's office, she crossed her long legs and favoured Parry with a smile that set his cock twitching in his pants.

'I must say, Dr Parry, I have been most impressed,' she said

'Thank you Director'

'Helena, please' purred Carter

Parry smiled, 'I am glad we meet with your approval, Helena'

'I have just one more request to make of you,' continued the woman, 'before I leave you in peace. I'd like to talk to one of your guests.'

_Fuck _thought Parry pasting a smile on his face, 'at the moment, Director, we have only one resident. A human, one Ianto Jones, he was placed her by your predecessor Ma'am'

'For what purpose?'

Parry bridled, 'We never ask and we are never told. Our job is to hold our guests here until the person who placed them with us wants them back. That's all we do, that's all we want to know.'

Helena nodded, 'thereby ensuring your discretion and reducing your culpability – very clever.'

'I'm glad you approve' said Parry sycophantically

Helena's blue eyes were glacial, 'I understand, Dr Parry, that does not mean I approve.'

* * *

Ianto was once more sitting on his favourite bench under the willow tree. He had been told that the Director Designate of Torchwood One was visiting the facility wanted to see him. He wondered vaguely what had happened to Yvonne Hartman and whether Lisa would be working for the new director. He hadn't seen any news of the outside world since waking up in his cell. He had made coffee and produced a batch of biscuits at the request of Dr Parry's PA and was assuming that being allowed out in the garden to talk to the Director was some kind of reward for his efforts.

A tall woman with long blonde hair was walking across the lawn towards him. Even from a distance it was clear that she was breathtakingly beautiful. As she got closer, Ianto's face broke into a smile of recognition and welcome which quickly faded as he realised, with embarrassment, that he had never seen this woman before in his life. He didn't even know who he thought she night have been. Authoritatively, she waved his guards away to a far enough distance that their conversation would not be overheard and, standing before him, offered her hand,

'Mr Jones? My name is Helena Carter.'

Ianto stood politely and shook her hand, 'They told me you are the new head of Torchwood , Ma'am he said, 'what happened to Director Hartman?'

Helena sat down elegantly and gestured to Ianto to do the same, 'you were at One, no?' Ianto nodded, 'so you were aware of the so-called Ghost shifts?' Ianto nodded once more, 'they were the precursor to an invasion, one that was thwarted, fortunately but Director Harman was one of the first to die.'

Without thinking, Ianto grasped tightly at Helena's sleeve, 'Lisa Hallett, she was the Director's assistant – we had been... close once, did she..?

Helena gently removed Ianto's hand and held it between her own, 'I'm sorry, Mr Jones, there is no easy way to say this, she died in the battle'

Ianto bowed his head, _Lisa, dead;_ he was finding it hard to assimilate although he had detested what her ambition had made her and how she had behaved toward poor Jack, they'd had some wonderful times in the early weeks of their relationship, a small tear hovered on his dark lashes. Helena squeezed his hand as if she understood what he had lost and why he felt the need to mourn for it. Ianto looked up, 'I'm sorry Ma'am, I know most of the senior staff at Torchwood One but your name is unfamiliar to me, where were you before you became Director Designate?'

Helena grimaced, 'I don't have a lot of time Mr Jones, so forgive me if we talk about you and not me.' She noticed the bruise on the side of Ianto's face and frowned, reaching out to touch it gently, 'Are you being mistreated, Mr Jones?'

'I fell in the night' Helena's eyebrow arched and she crossed her arms across her chest. 'I really did' insisted Ianto. God this woman seemed so familiar to him, her mannerisms particularly. He took a risk, 'Forgive Ms Carter but...have we met before?'

Helena leaned close to him, 'Look at me very closely, Ianto. Do YOU think we have met before?'

All of a sudden, Ianto found that he couldn't think, all he wanted to do was lose himself in those mesmerising blue eyes and drown in the smell of the woman's perfume, she smelt so enticing, her skin was flawless, lickable, somehow he knew just how it would taste, her lips looked so luscious, her mouth was made for kissing and... wait, just, just wait now. He took a breath and whispered disbelievingly, 'Jack?'

"Helena's" blue eyes sparkled 'Do you like me like this?'

Ianto fought to keep his face impassive although his heart was pounding so hard he was amazed his guards couldn't hear it from where they hovered six metres away, 'Jack is it really you?'

Jack grinned, god Ianto had never thought to see that grin again, 'Yep, I make a good woman don't you think?

'You are gorgeous'

'I am' smirked Jack, complacently 'but I do have a little help, this' he drew the black jade pendant from his cleavage, 'is a Briacate glamoure droplet – it takes what you have and makes it...more.'

Ianto was drinking him in 'Jack' he said with quiet satisfaction

Jack smiled at Ianto and leant toward him, whispering, 'If you knew how much I want to kiss you right now'

Ianto nodded and on a breath murmured 'want to be kissing you too'

Jack's smile faded and casting a precautionary glance in the direction of the oblivious guards he gently caressed Ianto's bruised face again, 'Are you being abused' he asked again

Ianto shook his head, 'not physically, no' he quailed slightly as he saw the fury on Jack's face as he put two and two together.

'Who?' growled Jack.

'Parry'

'Only Parry?'

'Yes'

'Ianto?'

'Only Parry, Jack I promise'

'It will stop' said Jack with such certainty that Ianto almost felt sorry for Parry...almost. Ianto leant into Jack's comforting touch. 'So how did you get this then'

'It was a couple of nights ago, I really did slip in the bathroom I got up to get a drink of water when I was still half asleep and I fell' smiled Ianto sheepishly, 'Jack, I'd had the most vivid dream. It felt so real, you were with me in my cell and you...we...' he blushed

'I touched you and rubbed against you and then I came all over my stomach and your back and you came really hard, twice, all up the wall next to your bed'

'How...how do you know?'

'I had the same dream,' said Jack, 'When I woke up your semen was all over my bed. I don't know how it happened – once you guys busted me out of Canary Wharf I spent some time with the Doctor and a lot of time communing with the Tardis, Tosh is working on a theory that may have had something to do with it'

'Is it permanent? Will it happen again?'

'I don't know. Would it bother you if it did?'

Ianto grinned, 'Having some sort of psychic connection to you – are you kidding?'

Jack smiled in relief, he has been afraid that the whatever-it-was would scare Ianto off, he should have known better, 'What I do know is I've found you so now we can start working on getting you out of here. I'm sorry you were here so long, the Doctor was supposed to deliver me straight back to Cardiff but he overshot by three weeks. Parry has kindly shown "Helena" all his security protocols, this place is tight, but with the inside knowledge this little visit has given me I will be able to get you out soon– trust me on that sweetheart.'

Ianto's blue-grey eyes met Jack's, burning with faith, 'I know you will.'

Jack placed a hand to his ear, Tosh, who was acting as Helena Carter's chauffeur and had been quietly hacking the facility's security systems whist waiting for her boss, had let out a small squeal of distress.

'_Jack! You have to get out of there, now'_

'Tosh, talk to me'

'_Parry has just received a heavily encrypted high security e-mail from the Commander-in-Chief UNIT confirming that you are named as Torchwood head for Glasgow and Cardiff but saying that until a decision is made about whether to re-establish Torchwood One all administrative matters are to be referred to him. He hasn't opened it yet, but the system has logged it and sent him an alert, the moment he does read it the game is up.'_

'Shit!'

Ianto looked at Jack, enquiringly, 'my cover is about to be blown' Jack explained hurriedly, 'Parry will change all his security protocols – you may have to stick it out a while longer. I'm sorry Ianto.'

'Doesn't matter, if I know you'll be coming for me I'll be able to hold on'

Jack grinned wolfishly and winked, 'Ianto, one thing you can count on, I will always come for you'

Ianto smiled shyly, 'get out of here while you are still safe, cariad.'

Jack picked up Ianto's hand and placed a soft kiss in his palm, 'I love you, stay safe' He stood up, gave Ianto a cool smile, threw a polite but curt nod at the guards and strode away towards the house, where Parry was hovering uncomfortably in the doorway.

* * *

'I trust your conversation with Mr Jones was satisfactory 'asked Parry as Helena swayed her way back into the house.'

She nodded shortly. Parry could not help but be distracted by the way her hair shimmered in the sunlight, God she was standing really close to him almost pinning him to the wall. Helena slid her hand down between their two bodies and gently cupped Parry's balls. Parry swallowed hard.

' Don't worry, Jones told me nothing negative about you or your regime, you clearly have him terrified into compliance ' she whispered, 'but he has obviously been physically abused and it occurs to me that a pretty boy like him may cause people to get "ideas." If that is the case those people need to know that Jones is not without powerful friends – Jack Harkness at Torchwood Cardiff has taken an interest in the boy in the past.'

Parry managed a short laugh, 'Harkness? That poseur? He'll have moved on to his next bed warmer. I imagine he'll be balls deep in another pretty arse by now, I doubt he even remembers Jones' name'

Helena scowled, 'do you want to take that chance you pathetic little streak of shit?'

Parry attempted to reach for some authority, 'May I remind you that I am Director of this facility whilst you are only Director Designate? You can't talk to me like that

Helena bared her teeth, reminding Parry forcibly of a Hoix, she tightened her grip on his balls making him squeak in pain, 'I am making his continued wellbeing your responsibility, Parry. If anyone here at this facility touches that boy in any way , whether my posting as Director is confirmed or not, I will find out and I will personally come back here and feed the abuser their own testicles after ripping them off with my teeth – are we clear?' Frightened, at how swiftly this gorgeous woman could change from flirtatious to fucking terrifying, Parry nodded so vigorously the vertebrae of his neck popped and cracked. Helena gave him a dazzling smile and a passionate kiss, sliding her tongue into the startled man's mouth, before biting his lip savagely, releasing him and stepping away.

'Good' with one of her scary changes of mood, Helena graced Parry with a grin and a sexy wink, 'thank you so much for your hospitality and...kindness,' the tip of her tongue swept across her luscious red lips mesmerising Parry despite all of his worries and preoccupations. With a small wave of her hand Helena headed towards the doors gifting Parry with one last glimpse of her perfect arse before heading out to where her car was waiting. With a sigh of relief that she was gone, Parry dabbed at his bleeding lip with his handkerchief and headed back to his office to check the e-mails that he had neglected because of Helena Carter's visit.

* * *

Jack settled back into his seat and kicked his high heels off with a sigh of relief, as the limousine sped away from Cynnal tŷ pen. He looked up and his eyes met Tosh's anxious brown gaze in the mirror.

'Did you see him?'

Jack nodded

'Is he alright'

'He's thin, pale and scared. I think Parry, the guy in charge has been fucking him but that will stop now. All in all, he's as well as can be expected.' Jack thumped the leather seat beside him, 'Fuck Tosh, they showed me everything! It would have been so easy to get him out – now they will change all their codes, all their security protocols – we are back where we started from.'

'Not really' said Tosh, calmly, 'at least you have seen him, at least now he has more than hope.'

'Hope? He doesn't need hope he needs freedom.'

'He loves you and trusts you, Jack' said Tosh gently. 'He had hope, now he has certainty'

'We could have had him out of there in two days' argued Jack, bitterly, 'now we are back where we started from - shit.'

'Then we will think of something else' said Tosh, firmly.

Jack ran his hands through his hair, 'yeah but what?' he asked despairingly.


	15. Chapter 15

Ianto sat under his tree and watched the man he loved as he swayed seductively in high heels and a tight skirt across the manicured lawns and back into the secure facility, to frighten the shit out of the man who had been raping him for the last three weeks. It was possibly the most romantic thing anyone had ever done for him. Ianto's eyes grew a little glassy as he watched the play of the muscles in Jack's legs and arse move enticingly. Ianto shifted uncomfortably in his seat, his throat was getting dry and his pants disturbingly tight. He added _get Jack to dress up like that again_ to the things-to-do-as-soon-as-I get-out-here list that he was constructing in his head_. Get Jack to dress up like that again_ was now right at the top and unlikely to move down the list anytime soon.

After about forty minutes of happy day dreaming, Ianto was jerked from his reverie by the sound of running feet pounding across the grass towards him. Two guards Ianto had never seen before grasped him by the arms and dragged him upright.

'Back to your room, now, Jones' snarled one, 'This entire facility is now in lock down'

'What? Why?'

'Security has been compromised. Dunno who that Carter bitch was but she is sent Dr. Parry into a major panic and bought a serious shit storm down on all of us. All security protocols are being reset, all residents – that's you Jones – are to be locked in for at least the 48 hours.'

Ianto was thrust into his cell and the door slammed behind him. _Jack's got them rattled_ he thought with a grin. He sauntered over to the bed and lay down, hands behind his head, ankles crossed. He closed his eyes, _Jack Harkness_ he thought _he's brilliant, he's brave, he's gorgeous and he's mine_. The smile that crawled across his face would have illuminated the darkest night.

Ianto lay for a while revelling in his memories of Jack, the way he had looked into Ianto's eyes when he had told him how much he had wanted to be kissing him, remembering the sparkle in his blue eyes when Jack thrust slowly into him for the first time, making Ianto beg for release and thinking about how those eyes had looked when sated and drowsy Jack had mumbled his affection, his love, against Ianto's neck. A flush of warmth in his groin sent his hand drifting down to insert itself inside his pants and begin to stroke gently the hardness it found there. Something was different. Ianto frowned, he knew the shape and feel of his own cock, the sensitive spots, how the slit at the end felt against the ball of his thumb as he rubbed it over the swollen head. What he was touching now was different, familiar but different; it...felt like...felt like...

'Jack'

* * *

When Tosh and Jack got back to the Hub, Suzie and Owen barely gave them time to get through the doors, before starting to fire questions at them, so desperate were they to hear what had gone on. Dodging around them both, Tosh immediately scurried over to her workstation, keen to use the enhanced capability of the Torchwood mainframe to try to hack back into the servers of the Cynnal tŷ pen facility. She was hoping she may be able to record any changes they made to the system in the light of finding out that they had been duped by "Helena Carter" so that they could still find a way to break into the house to get Ianto out.

Jack held up his hand to quell the barrage of questions from Suzie and Owen. 'I'm gonna shower and change' he said, 'Team meeting in the conference room in half an hour. Suzie, do you think you could do a coffee and pastry run?' Suzie took a good look at Jack's thunderous countenance and contented herself with a simple nod, scooping up her purse and heading out of the Hub.

Jack took himself down to his bunker, stripping off the trappings of Helena Carter and placing the Briacate glamoure droplet back in its box, he'd put it back in the secure archive later. Jack made his way to his bathroom, turned on the shower and slid beneath the steaming water. Jack bent his head under the water, wetting his hair; he tilted his head back, closing his eyes and relishing the feel of the water droplets sliding over his skin. He thought about Ianto, gods it had been so good to see him. It had taken all of Jack's self control not to pull the young man into his arms and just take him out of Cynnal tŷ pen, killing anyone who tried to stop him. He wished now that he had, the only thing that had stopped him was his desire to keep the Cardiff team off the radar. He didn't want Ianto to have to leave his native city, or spend his life on the run from UNIT or Torchwood One. Jack smiled to himself as he recalled that pale Welsh skin, so silky, so supple – it tasted so sweet, especially when Jack ran his tongue over the sensitive spot behind Ianto's balls making him moan and tremble with pleasure. Desire for the beautiful young man coiled in Jack's belly and he felt himself getting hard. Breathing heavily, Jack bent his head into the water once more, placing both his hands flat against the tiled wall of the shower. A soft hand wrapped itself around his cock, stroking and caressing, a sweet Welsh voice whispered in his ear...

'Jack'

* * *

When Jack emerged some thirty minutes later, even Owen, possibly the least sensitive of the team, could tell that he was calmer and more centred; Jack was back in his normal clothes and his normal persona. Tosh looked up from her work station and raised an eyebrow,

'Jack?'

Jack smiled 'It happened again.'

'We should do a scan' said Tosh jumping to her feet

'No. First things, first – team meeting' said Jack. He bounced into the conference room, helped himself to two enormous jam doughnuts and settled himself at the head of the table.

'Right' said Jack, 'Top priority is getting Ianto Jones out of Cynnal tŷ pen. Tosh what's the rift going to be like for the next few hours?'

Tosh consulted her fledgling rift predictor programme, 'according to this,' she said hesitantly. 'There's nothing predicted for at least five days.'

'Excellent' replied Jack, 'that's how long we've got then' He looked around the table, 'OK' he said, 'Even though I'm nominally head of the remaining Torchwood teams – that's us and Archie, by the way – I am "officially" unaware of the Cynnal tŷ pen facility, that's why we needed "Helena Carter" but thanks to bloody UNIT she's useless to us now. So I'm open to ideas'

Tosh raised her hand and asked hesitantly, 'If Hartman placed Ianto at Cynnal tŷ pen, why don't they just release him now she is dead?'

'Because that's not the way that place works' said Jack, 'Parry is the original of the three wise monkeys, he sees nothing, hears nothing and thinks nothing. If Hartman doesn't rescind her order to the Cynnal tŷ pen to store Ianto, and that's highly unlikely seeing as she is dead, then he stays there until he dies. We would have had a fight on our hands even if Helena's authority had been accepted by Parry'

'We could...um...talk to UNIT' suggested Suzie half heartedly. Jack just looked at her.

'Or John Hart,' murmured Tosh.

'No' Jack was adamant

'Or the Doctor' suggested Owen

'That's a thought' said Jack, 'how did you lot get hold of him before?'

Tosh shrugged, 'Just kept transmitting a simple distress message across all wave lengths until we got a response. I have been doing the same thing ever since we found Ianto but there has been no response yet.'

'Ok' Jack looked grim again, 'keeping trying Tosh but we can't assume that the Doctor is gonna ride to the rescue this time, he can be our back up plan but we need something more tangible.'

'hmm' Tosh looked at where Jack's arm rested on the table, his shirt sleeves were neatly folded back displaying his strong tanned arms, 'it's a shame your vortex manipulator can't be fixed,' she said, 'then you could just whoosh in and snatch Ianto from under their noses. They wouldn't even think it was us; they would never work out how it was done.' To her complete amazement, Jack leapt to his feet, pulled her out of her chair and kissed her so completely and thoroughly that when he finally did release her she was breathless and flushed. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Owen looking thunderstruck and a little jealous and Suzie trying hard not to laugh.

'Jack?'

Jack laughed, 'It's been decades since I tried to find a temporal engineer to look at this. Cardiff has a bigger and better black market now than it ever has before.' He grinned manically at everyone around the table and headed out of the conference room at top speed, closely pursued by his stunned team.

By the time Owen, Tosh and Suzie had made it to the main area of the hub Jack was already heading out of the cog wheel door, coat flapping importantly.

'Jack!' Suzie was using the tone of voice that even Jack paid attention to. He skidded to a halt and turned to face her, eye brow raised, 'talk to us, where are you going?' she demanded

Jack smiled broadly, 'Going shopping. Be good, children,' and spinning on his heel, he was gone.

* * *

Once Jack had exited so flamboyantly from the hub, leaving his nonplussed team behind him, they returned to the conference room and had spent a good thirty minutes, finishing off the pastries, speculating on what he might be trying to achieve and where he had gone before Suzie sighed,

'It's useless trying to understand what goes on in Jack's head,' she said ruefully, 'When he wants us to know what he has planned, he'll tell us. I'm not wasting my time on pointless speculations, I've got work of my own to do.' And with that she walked out of the conference room and headed back to her own desk.

Tosh and Owen looked at each other.

'She's right' said Tosh, 'We have to trust Jack. I'm going back in the Cynnal tŷ pen servers, if I can't find out what security protocols they have changed I can at least plant a virus that will crash their systems, they'll reset to default settings and I can get in cause mayhem. '

'Right then, ' said Owen, 'I'll...er...I'll go and...er'

Tosh gave him an impish smile, 'You could go and do some research on physical manifestations of telepathic links.'

'What'

'C'mon Owen, I'll fill you in over a coffee' and linking her arm with his, Tosh led Owen out of the conference room and down towards the medical bay.'

* * *

Five hours had gone by and a kind of peace had fallen over the hub. The place was never entirely silent but the soothing drip of the running water down the central column made a pleasant juxtaposition to the tap tapping of Tosh and Suzie's keyboards and the musical clattering from the medical bay as Owen bad temperedly recalibrated his precious DNA sequencer after Tosh had told him about Jack's "messing" with it as Owen had put it.

Suzie's phone buzzed, it was a text from Jack

_Send Tosh and Owen home. Wait for me. Back in 15_

'Tosh, Owen, message from Jack. You guys can go home.'

Tosh looked up from her keyboard, 'Is he coming back?'

Suzie shrugged, 'he wants you to leave and me to stay. That's all the message said' She held up her phone and Tosh squinted as she read the screen.

'Don't need to tell me twice' Owen appeared from the medical bay shouldering into his ubiquitous leather jacket, 'Tosh, my lovely do you fancy a drink?'

Tosh blushed, 'yes I do actually'

'Good you can buy me one too'

* * *

'Have they gone?' Jack emerged from the shadows of the tunnels that led to the lower levels of the hub.

'Christ Jack!' Suzie placed the flat of her hand to her chest, 'we should put a fucking bell on you'

Jack laughed, 'quite a few have tried'

Suzie fixed him with a furious glare and stalked off towards Jack's office, 'C'mon then Captain Mysterious.'

By then time Jack had caught up with her, Suzie had made herself comfortable on the sofa and had poured two generous glasses of Jack's single malt. She pushed a glass towards Jack and settled back against the cushions.

'What's going on Jack?'

Jack sat down heavily next to her and leant back with a deep sigh, he looked exhausted. 'I have found a temporal engineer who says he can fix my vortex manipulator. I can pick it up in two hours'

'Good' said Suzie, 'That's...good...isn't it?'

'The guy who can fix it is a Zopaedian.'

Suzie paled, 'Fuck,' she said, 'so, not so good.' She had heard of the Zopaedian race, rumoured to be the greatest scientists and engineers in the known galaxy and trustworthy as far as it went but they were tricky and would twist any interaction especially a financial one to their advantage. Despite their skills, dealing with a Zopaedian was a last resort, something you did when there was nothing left to lose. 'How much are they charging you for this repair?' she asked suspiciously

Jack closed his eyes and took another sip of his whisky, 'we agreed a simple trade'

Suzie snorted, suspiciously, 'what are you trading?'

'Have you heard of the Do'harzo Celebration?' Suzie shook her head, Jack continued, 'it's a Zopaedian religious ritual that each adult Zopaedian male is required to attempt in honour of their ancestors. It is difficult and complex and is rarely completed, so to do so gives one great status in Zopaedian society. It requires the procurement of a willing individual who will agree to provide the meats for the celebration.'

Suzie relaxed, 'Oh, well that doesn't sound too bad. Quick trip to Sainsbury's and we are good, no?'

'Not quite. The provision of the meat is a bit more...personal'

'Fuck Jack! You are gonna let them eat you?' Suzie looked as if she was going to be sick

'Just my liver and heart'

'Just your...Christ, Jack, listen to yourself. There must be another way, you can't do this!'

Jack put his glass down with a thud, 'He risked his life to get me away from Hartman. He was willing to die to save me, Suzie. How can I do any less for him now that he needs me? Especially as death means less to me than it does to him. '

'It still hurts Jack, how can you be so cavalier about that? Why don't you take Owen with you, he could anaesthetise you,' Jack gave an impatient shake of his head, 'or pre-emptive pain relief, anything' said Suzie frantically

Jack squirmed uncomfortably, 'It doesn't work like that, the adrenaline, the endorphins make the meat sweeter.'

'Oh for fucks sake' Suzie threw up her hands in disgust

Jack gave a huff of annoyance, 'I don't want to fight you on this, Suzie. I asked for you to stay behind because I need someone with me, Zopaedians are twisty and I need someone who will follow my orders but act on their own initiative when they have to, someone I can trust. I thought that person was you – was I wrong?'

Suzie shook her head, 'No, no Jack, I've got your back, damn you.' She paused thinking, 'If Zopaedians are so tricksy, how do you know that they won't just do a runner with your vortex manipulator?'

Jack gave an evil grin, 'Partly because of the great importance of the Do'harzo Celebration, I can't over emphasise how crucial its significance in Zopaedian society is. Completing the Do'harzo is like marrying into royalty, it's a guarantee of influence, power and money. But, the main reason is the fact I have the first born offspring of the Zopaedian engineer restrained and sedated in the boot of the SUV. The Zopaedian gets him back when I have my wrist strap back where it belongs' and he clasped his hand around his bare wrist.

'Jack, can't we take another day to think about this' asked Suzie desperately, 'Tosh might find a way in, or the Doctor might turn up.'

'No, not another second,' Jack looked into her eyes, 'I will do anything to get Ianto Jones out of that fucking place, to keep him safe and have him back where he belongs – got that?'

'Ok Jack, I understand. You can count on me. I just hope this boy is worth it'

'I would die a million times every day for a million years to keep that man safe' said Jack honestly, 'and I'd do it because I know, if he could, he would do it for me. I wish I could make you all believe what he means to me.'

Suzie was not widely acknowledged among the team to be overly sympathetic or romantic but she could recognise heartfelt sincerity when she heard it. She took Jack's hand in hers and held it tightly. 'Alright, then. When do we meet them?'

'Midnight'

She glanced at her watch,' then we have four hours to prepare, to make sure this pans out the way we want it to – what do we need to do?'

Jack gave her a broad smile, 'I have some interesting ideas, let's take this conversation down to the armoury'


	16. Chapter 16

The drive to the rendezvous, which was an empty warehouse by the docks, was tense and silent, both of them lost in their thoughts. Eventually Suzie broke the silence, 'what is it with Aliens and deserted warehouses?' she asked irritably.

Jack shrugged, 'I've always put it down to space travel' he said. Suzie looked at him in confusion, and he continued, 'Even the most luxurious of space ships are tight for space. Eventually, it all becomes a bit...crowded...claustrophobic...you know? Come to Earth and find all these empty buildings full of light and air – what's not to love?'

'Yeah, guess so' said Suzie.

Jack kept his eyes on the road, 'You know what we have to do, yeah?'

Suzie rolled her eyes; they had been over this countless times already. 'Make sure I get the vortex manipulator onto my wrist before handing over the Zopaedian's first born, remember the guy doing the...' her face twisted with distaste, 'the harvesting the um, um...'

'The instigator' supplied Jack

'The instigator, yeah. Remember the instigator is the guy to watch, he controls the entire proceedings and the congregation, if there's going to be trouble it will start with him. Once they have what they want we get out of there.'

'And you know the sequence to enter into the wrist strap?'

Suzie traced a pattern in the air with her fingers; Jack glanced over and nodded approvingly, 'good'

He swung the SUV close to a wall and parked. 'C'mon' he said as he climbed out of the vehicle, 'you don't mind a bit of a walk do you?' He pulled a large pet carrier from the boot of the SUV, the contents hissed threateningly and claws scrabbled against the sides. With a small smile, Suzie slung her bag over her shoulder and followed her Captain into the night.

* * *

In his cell, Ianto was getting monumentally twitchy. He had been restricted to his cell for since "Helena Carter" had left the facility just before lunchtime and now it was dark, approaching midnight by Ianto's reckoning, but still no-one seemed to know what was going on or why the lock down had been initiated. For the first few hours he had been quietly amused, knowing that Jack would have obtained a lot of satisfaction from the hysteria his visit had engendered. Ianto had also used his time to contemplate the fact that his strange connection to Jack had manifested itself again as he had the waking dreaming experience of masturbating Jack as he showered. The sensation of touching Jack, feeling him spurt hotly over his hands had made Ianto come inside his pants but to his confusion once the day-dream, or whatever it, was had ended Jack's semen was thickly coating his fingers, he recognised it by the unique taste. But now Ianto felt...odd, he couldn't settle, he felt as if ants were crawling underneath his skin, his stomach was knotting itself up and he felt terrified and exhilarated at the same time. He sat on the edge of his bed and put his head in his hands. He wondered if these feelings were coming through his link with Jack and, if they were, what Jack was doing that thrilled and frightened him in equal measure. Ianto tried to empty his mind and concentrate on Jack trying to send him a message of love and support through the link but he wasn't sure if it was working. He pounded his fist onto the mattress in frustration, what was the point of this mysterious link between them if it was just for wanking; if he couldn't even communicate through it?

His concentration was broken by the door of his cell being opened. He jumped to his feet, gut clenching with his own fear as Malcolm Parry swaggered into the cell. Parry walked up to Ianto, invading his personal space and backing him up against the wall.

'Your "friend" Helena Carter, told me to leave you alone,' he said running a finger down Ianto's face, 'she was very insistent and most inventive with her threats. I imagine that would make you feel a lot safer than you have up to now'

Ianto was swaying, the feelings of fear and elation from Jack were spiking through his head, whilst his own immediate terror was also demanding his attention; his body was shaking with the intensity of the emotions and his vision was beginning to blur, it felt as though he was watching two films showing simultaneously on one screen. His small cell was over laid with a large, cavernous echoing space. He was finding it almost impossible to concentrate on what Parry was saying, other voices were ringing in his head. He made a tremendous effort to focus on the man in front of him

'The thing is,' Parry was saying, 'I have spent the last eighteen hours doing some digging and Helena Carter does not exist, not in Torchwood records, not in UNIT, not anywhere. So, the question you need to ask yourself is where does that leave you?' He stared in amazement as Ianto's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed to the floor at Parry's feet.

* * *

Suzie eyed the Zopaedian congregation dispassionately; they really were an ugly race she thought to herself; a sort of cross between a centipede and a shrimp, with myriad legs, a segmented body that terminated in a vertical thorax covered in cartilaginous plates, the head seemed most mouth complemented by large dark eyes on stalks, they also had four large serrated claws that were surprisingly nimble and dexterous. Two heavily armed Zopaedians immediately took up position at Jack's side; one of them rather obviously placing a large and efficient looking gun at Jack's head. The engineer that had repaired Jack's wrist strap also appeared to be acting as the Instigator of the Do'harzo Celebration, he had handed the vortex manipulator over to Jack who had examined it with great care, given a curt nod, handed the wrist strap to Suzie and the pet carrier containing the irate Zopaedian firstborn to the Instigator, who cooed alarmingly at the creature within, which trilled happily in response. The two Zopaedian guards stood down, obviously they had only been there to prevent Jack just teleporting out of the situation once he got his hands on the VM, the voluntary nature of Jack's role seemed very important, noted Suzie. The Zopaedian Instigator swivelled one of its eyes towards Suzie,

'Why is this second rate being, this female here?' it hissed

Jack placed a calming hand on Suzie's arm as she began to bristle and reach for her gun, 'She stands with me' he replied levelly, 'as is permitted by your law'

'Very well' the Zopaedian turned to face Suzie, 'You are permitted here by law, respect our traditions and do not attempt to interfere, female.'

Gritting her teeth, Suzie nodded, surreptitiously fastening the leather strap of the vortex manipulator around her wrist. She pulled out her mobile phone and held it up for inspection, 'I wish to make one communication' she stated clearly, 'may I do this before we commence?'

The Zopaedian gave a complicated twist of its long body, which Suzie interpreted as assent, 'we must prepare the donor' it hissed,' 'you may communicate until we return.'

Suzie inclined her head and concentrated on dialling so that she did not have to watch Jack being led away.

'What?'

'Owen, I don't have much time so keep quiet, listen and do as I say. Jack is about to do something incredibly stupid and dangerous which means when we get back to the Hub he's going to need you. Get yourself there now and be ready, be ready for something bad'

'But wh...'

Suzie hastily ended the call, the last thing she wanted to do right now was to get into an argument with Owen, she wasn't sure she could explain clearly what Jack was going to do anyway, she was certain that she couldn't explain why, satisfactorily. She gave herself a shake and then tried very hard not to stare as a naked and oiled Jack Harkness strode through the assembled Zopaedians towards her. Suzie had previously prided herself on her immunity to Jack's dubious allure but now that she was getting a good look at the full frontal Harkness charm she was beginning to regret missed chances. Jack winked at her as he noticed her staring, she glared at him.

* * *

Malcolm Parry stared, aghast at the body of the young man lying motionless on the floor; despite his blustering bravado when he had entered the cell, the threats that Helena Cater had made had left a significant impression on him. He had gone to Jones' cell more to recover a sense of self worth than because he really felt like a fuck but now a cold fear curdled in his chest and he dropped to his knees fumbling for a pulse. He let out a small yelp of relief as he found a very slow pulse in Ianto's neck, he pulled out his radio and depressed the emergency call, booted feet could be heard thundering down the corridor. Parry raised his voice

'In here, medical emergency, we need to get this man to sick bay NOW!'

As a large guard swept the unconscious young man up from the floor and set off to the medical bay at a run, Parry trotted after him hoping that whatever was ailing his prisoner it was something he could deal with.

* * *

Jack fought to get sufficient breath into his tortured body to scream in agony as the Zopaedian instigator thrust its serrated claws into the gaping wound in his abdomen once more. The Do'harzo Celebration had been underway for nearly 30 minutes and each one of them had been filled with searing agony for him, he was trying to keep a vision of Ianto Jones in his mind to remind himself why this was so vital. Through the haze of his pain he was vaguely aware of Suzie standing somewhere off to his left, swearing quietly and inventively, when a soft hand was placed upon his forehead. He forced his eyes open and looked into the frightened and tear filled blue grey eyes of Ianto Jones.

'Cariad, what are you letting them do? Make them stop this'

Jack's rolled his head to look at the beautiful man caressing him,' save...you' he gasped

A single tear splashed onto Jack's cracked, dry, lips, it tasted wonderful, 'no, no, no' whispered Ianto, 'this price is too great, I am not worth this.'

Jack managed a pained smile, 'are'

Ianto was running his fingers through Jack's sweat soaked hair, he was sobbing, 'oh my love, how am I ever gonna earn this?'

Jack could feel the Zopaedian Instigator pulling his liver out of his body as another of his claws was edging its way towards his heart, he tried to get enough breath into his lungs to reply but his vision was fading, the last thing he felt was Ianto's lips on his, stealing his dying breath to hold it safe in his own mouth.

* * *

It was dark, so dark that it didn't matter if his eyes were open or shut. It was all so strange to Ianto and it confused him; the last thing he remembered was hallucinating via their link that he was standing at Jack's side as some nightmare-ish creature tortured him by slowly eviscerating him. Ianto remembered kissing Jack and sucking his last breath into his mouth, trying to preserve it, keep it safe for the man he loved; but now everything was dark, no up or down, no sight or sound. This was not how these dreams had ended before but this was like no dream they had shared before, previously the experiences they had shared had been pleasurable in the extreme but this had been beyond horror. For a brief moment Ianto had a flashback to the way his father would restrain him and lock him into a darkened room for some imagined infraction before...well, before... He could feel his heart speeding up in panic, where_ am I? _A small whimper escaped his tight throat then he became aware that someone was reaching for him, holding him in their arms, stroking his hair and murmuring his name lovingly.

It was dark, so dark that it didn't matter if his eyes were open or shut. It was all so familiar to Jack. _So, its over_, he thought with relief. He remembered seeing Ianto in the warehouse and hoped that what the young man had witnessed had not traumatised to the extent he wanted nothing more to do with him, that he had broken the link and was OK. But although the darkness was an old friend; something was different this time. There was no up, no down but Jack was convinced that he was lying down, there was no sight, no sound but Jack could hear a soft whimper break the silence. Jack reached out blindly and pulled the warm muscular body that his hands encountered into a affectionate embrace. He ran his fingers through the other man's hair, he knew this hair, knew the pattern of this soft breathing; Jack pressed a kiss to the man's forehead

'Ianto, gods, Ianto, what are you doing here?'

'Jack? Am I still dreaming? Are you OK?'

Jack pulled Ianto closer, 'Oh Ianto, you followed me, my darling boy. How? Why did you follow me?'

Ianto caressed Jack's face, 'I don't understand where we are? What's happened? Where are the mean centipede things?'

Jack closed his eyes, he was smiling at Ianto's description of the Zopaedians even as tears slipped down his face 'I don't know what to tell you, sweetheart but I think the mean centipede things have killed me; I think I've died and you have come with me.'

Ianto snuggled closer, 'and this is it, is it? When you die, I mean, just darkness? There's nothing else?'

'There never has been before'

'That's so lonely' whispered Ianto, brushing his lips over Jack's cheek, seeking his mouth. Jack clutched at the younger man holding him tight

'Yan, you shouldn't be here'

'Neither should you.'

* * *

Suzie watched with sick horror as the Zopaedian Instigator triumphantly held Jack's liver and heart aloft whilst the congregation shrieked and chittered excitedly. She forced herself to look at Jack; he had died with a small smile on his face. She moved forward and pulled the limp body into her arms, fixing the Instigator with a stern look.

'The contract is concluded' she stated firmly, 'I will take him away now'

The Zopaedian Instigator turned her, 'The contract is not fulfilled, female' it hissed, 'we contracted with this man for his organs but we know of him, he is unique, he is the forever man, he will heal from this. If he re-grows his organs the contracted is unfulfilled – he goes nowhere, female.'

Suzie scowled, 'And you will be become extremely rich selling his body for other Do'harzo Celebrations'

The Zopaedian waved its claws in the air, 'a happy side effect' it hissed

'Then why return the vortex manipulator' asked Suzie

'A sign of good faith' responded the Zopaedian, 'we contracted to repair the manipulator and we did, we did not contract to return it to a specific individual. We have returned it to you. We know that the price was high and we have no objection to it being paid, in instalments, over time. We are an honourable race. We expect that this meat' it jabbed at Jack's corpse, 'will be equally honourable, female.'

Suzie looked at her feet, 'He is my Captain and my friend, 'she said softly, 'am I permitted to take my leave?'

The Instigator shuffled back, 'it is permitted' it hissed, 'we honour such relationships, we are an honourable people' it insisted again.

Suzie pulled Jack into an even tighter embrace and buried her face in his neck, her long hair concealing the fact that she was beginning to programme the vortex manipulator that was strapped tightly to her left wrist. She concentrated on recalling the 60 second delay teleport instruction that Jack had taught her. As the wrist strap began to quietly beep its countdown, she straighten up, cast a scornful and contemptouous glance at the Zopaedian Instigator and raised her voice so that her words rang around the warehouse, 'This man is not "meat" His name is Jack Harkness and he is a good and honourable person' the vortex manipulator was beginning to vibrate on her wrist, she scrabbled in her bag, 'but' she continued, 'my name is not "female" it is Suzie Costello and, unfortunately for you, I am neither good nor honourable.' As the brilliant white light of the teleport took them, Suzie tossed a Centarian Conflagration device into the centre of the congregation. In the nanosecond it took for the screaming to start, Suzie and Jack were gone


	17. Chapter 17

Parry was panicking. He had hooked Ianto Jones up to almost every monitor the medical bay possessed and none of the information they were showing made any sense to him. Ianto's brain activity was minimal and his heart rate was down to around 20 beats per minute. His blood pressure was almost unrecordable. Parry had no clue what to do, all of the young man' s blood work was within normal ranges although there was one unidentifiable substance showing up but levels of that, whatever it was, seemed to be dropping as well. Parry was at his wits end. Ianto did not appear to be in any pain as far as he could tell so apart from inserting an intravenous line to keep him hydrated, there did not appear to be anything else to do. Parry stood by the bed and ran his hands through the hair of his moribund patient.

'What is the matter with you, Jones?' he murmured, 'how can I fix this?'

* * *

Owen was pacing irritably around the hub, muttering under his breath when, with an incandescent flare of white light, Suzie Costello appeared, valiantly trying to support the corpse of Jack Harkness. For a brief second Owen froze in surprise then jumped forward to help support the dead weight that was his leader as Suzie began to sink to the floor under her burden.

'Christ, Costello. What has the stupid fuck done to himself now?'

Panting, as the two of them struggled to get Jack's body down into the medical bay, Suzie gave Owen the broad outline of what Jack had done and why.

'Zopaedians' muttered Owen, 'I've heard of them. They secrete a very nasty enzyme from the cutting edge of their claws, there's gonna be a lot of internal inflammation even after he comes back, I'll need ...' he trailed off and began darting around collecting intra-venous equipment and drawing up syringes of various drugs. Suzie remained at Jack's side absent mindedly stroking his hair. Owen looked at her, askance; such tenderness was generally foreign to his acerbic colleague, 'You OK, Costello?'

'Yeah' replied Suzie, slowly, unfolding a blanket and wrapping it around Jack's naked body, tucking it in affectionately, 'it's just...we all take him so much for granted y'know? We watch him bouncing through all this dangerous shit we deal with, dying and reviving, all jokes and smiles and fabulous jaw line and even we start to believe that's all there is to him.'

Owen walked over to her and cautiously rubbed her back, 'bad, was it?'

Suzie sighed, 'it was brutal, Owen, it was barbaric and tortuous and he, he just took it all; he was so brave. I didn't realise how much he protects us from, he hides this sort of stuff from us as much as he can. Watching what they did to him, it was like seeing him through new eyes, seeing him properly for the first time – he's courageous and smart and loyal and, god, so loving. He went through hell for the man he loves and, the thing is, I know he'd do it for us too, you, me and Tosh, and he would do it willingly, over and over. He is amazing; we don't give him anything like enough credit.'

'The Thousandth Man' said Owen, softly, remembering the poem that Suzie had quoted on the drive to Glasgow.

'Yeah, and if Ianto Jones is the Thousandth Man's Thousandth Man then he must be something quite spectacular.'

'We'd better get him back for him then,' Owen gave Suzie a comforting squeeze then moved hastily away as he felt her tense, obviously her emotional moment was over. He cleared his throat, 'Don't you have things to do that don't involve cluttering up my med bay?' he asked sarcastically, trying to get things back to normal between them.

Suzie rolled her eyes, 'I do. I need to call Tosh and get her in; she and I need to go retrieve the SUV. Call me as soon as he's back.' She paused, unfastened the vortex manipulator from her arm and handed it to Owen, 'put this back on his wrist, he will need to feel it against his skin when he comes back.'

Owen nodded and fastened the manipulator back where it belonged. He called after Suzie, 'I heard on Red Dragon that there is a massive fire in an old warehouse down at the docks, did you have something to do with that?'

Suzie threw him a grin, 'left them with a little gift courtesy of Torchwood - Centarian Conflagration device; guaranteed instant inferno, intensely hot. Very nice. I doubt there will be any inconvenient remains to worry the fire brigade'

Owen smirked and turned his attention back to Jack.

* * *

It was still as dark as it ever was but Jack had never been happier to be dead. He and Ianto had been clasped in each other's arms for what felt like an eternity. Ianto ran his fingertips over Jack's face leaving tiny trails of tingling fire in their wake; he chuckled against Jack's neck.

'What?'

'This isn't so bad...death' said Ianto, 'if I had known it would be one long snogging session with the most gorgeous man I have ever seen I'd have given it a go before now'

Jack's arms tightened around the younger man, 'don't say that' he whispered, 'not even as a joke. I'm coming for you very soon, then I want to keep you with me for as long as I possibly can.'

Ianto kissed him, 'I know,' he frowned; Jack's lips seemed less substantial under his, 'Jack? What's happening?'

'No!' Jack was clinging to him desperately 'no, no, no, I'm reviving. Ianto I don't want to leave you.' He could feel the familiar pull, dragging him back to life.

'Jack! What will happen to me?'

'Yan, break the link' Jack's voice was faint and distant, 'break it'

'I don't know how. Jack? Jack? Don't leave me! Jack?'

Ianto was alone in the dark.

* * *

Jack revived with a gasp, screaming Ianto's name. Owen came rushing into the medical bay and gently pushed Jack back onto the bed.

'Just relax, Captain' he said, as he smoothly injected a tranquillizer into Jack's I.V. line, 'those Zopaedians have really messed you up inside, you're going to feel a bit ropey for a couple of hours until you heal.'

'Tosh' slurred Jack sleepily, 'I need to talk to Tosh...its urgent'

'And you will' Owen reassured him, 'in about three hours after you have had a nice little sleep'

Jack's eyes drifted shut, then suddenly shot open, his right hand fumbled at his left wrist until it encountered his Vortex Manipulator then he sighed with relief and submitted to the sedative.

* * *

Parry frowned at the latest scan results. Unable to identify any cause for Ianto Jones' sudden collapse he had put him through an fMRI scanner as a last resort. The principle behind functional magnetic resonance imaging, also known as fMRI, was measurement of brain activity by detecting associated changes in blood flow. The technique relied on the fact that cerebral blood flow and neuronal activation are coupled which meant that when an area of the brain was in use, blood flow to that region also increased. Brain activation was presented graphically by colour-coding the strength of activation across the brain or the specific region studied. What it was showing was unprecedented in Parry's, admittedly limited, experience

Ianto's amygdala, the emotion centre of his brain was lit up like a Christmas tree and looked as if it was at least five times its usual size, whilst his brainstem, the part that controlled cardiac and respiratory function was barely ticking over. One of the scan pictures showed a tremendous spike in amygdala activity which was maintained for almost an hour before fading away to a baseline that was still well above standard levels. For the first time in many years, Parry began to think like the doctor he once had prided himself on being. Hastily he pulled the results from the hourly blood tests he was running, the spike in emotional activity corresponded to an increase in the strange substance in the young man's blood. The only questions Parry had now was what the hell that correlation meant and what use he could make of that information in trying to heal Ianto. He knew he was out of his depth, whatever was wrong with the young man there was no more he could do for him here, he decided that he would monitor Ianto's condition for another four hours and if there was no improvement in his condition he would contact UNIT and arrange for transfer to their experimental medical facility in Geneva. That scenario probably would not end well for Jones but it would take the responsibility away from Parry and that was really all he cared about the moment. He wanted Jones out of his facility, locked away somewhere where he would be someone else's problem and if Helena Carter came looking for him, Parry would happily point her in UNIT's direction and let them take their chances.

_Yeah_, Parry thought to himself_, this might be the best outcome, get rid of the troublesome boy and his powerful friends, make him UNIT's problem_. For the first time since Ianto's collapse Dr Parry began to smile.

* * *

When Jack awoke for the second time it was to see Toshiko sitting patiently beside his bed working diligently on a lap top. At his quiet groan as he stretched, she looked up with a smile

'Hey Jack, how are you feeling now?'

Jack pushed himself up on his pillows, 'better, back to normal. Thirsty though.' Tosh passed Jack a bottle of water which he drank gratefully, then he seemed to recall what had happened and grasped hold of Tosh's wrist, 'Tosh we have to find Ianto, I need to know he is alright and need to get him here, know he is safe.'

'Jack? What's happened?'

'It's the link, it happened again. He was with me when the Zopaedian killed me and...oh gods...he was with me in the dark.'

Tosh looked confused, 'In the dark? I don't understand'

Jack plucked at the blanket covering his lap, 'There's nothing when you die, Tosh. No heaven, no dead relatives – just darkness. But this time...he was there with me.'

'Through the link?'

Jack nodded, 'I don't know what happened to him when I revived.' He paused and seemed to turn all his attention inwards for a few minutes, 'I can't feel him' he said, distressed, ' Please Tosh, I have a functioning Vortex Manipulator, tell me you can get back in the Cynnal tŷ pen servers and find him for me.'

Tosh stood up and settled herself next to Jack on the bed. Jack raised his eyebrows; she had certainly got a lot friendlier since he had snogged her in the conference room when she had suggested getting his wrist strap fixed. She angled the lap top so that he could see what she had been doing.

'This is the CCTV feed from Ianto's cell, time stamped 00.30'

Jack frowned, 'That's when I was with the Zopaedians'

'I know' said Tosh, 'just watch'

Together they watched Ianto prowling around his cell rubbing his arms uncomfortably and scratching at his skin, they saw Parry sweep into the room and hustle Ianto up against the wall. Jack growled low in his throat, then froze as the feed showed the young man crumple to the ground.

'What the fuck?!'

'I think that's when the link established' said Tosh, 'previously one or both of you were in a relaxed state, but not this time. He was obviously picking up on your heightened emotional state as your encounter with the Zopaedians progressed. The link must have overwhelmed him and his brain must have, I don't know, shorted out in some way.'

'Oh God' Jack put his head in his hands, 'do we have any idea if he is OK?'

Tosh pulled up a new window on her screen, 'The medic guy, Parry, yeah?' Jack nodded, 'Parry got him to their sick bay, he's been running all sorts of test on him but he seems stumped, however...'

Jack slid out of bed and began pulling on the clean clothes that Suzie had left for him, 'right, send all the medical information you have to Owen's work station' he said as he strode out of the medical bay towards his office, ignoring Tosh's attempts to interrupt, 'OWEN'

Owen appeared from the kitchen where he had been trying to make a coffee, 'You bellowed, master?'

'Tosh is sending you a shit load of medical data from Cynnal tŷ pen, you've got 20 minutes to figure out what has happened to Ianto Jones and 10 minutes to figure out how to fix it or you're fired'

Owen smirked, 'relax, Jack. Tosh and I have been working on this for the last three hours or so. If you will follow me to the conference room I can tell you what we found whilst you were snoozing'

Chastened Jack followed him up the stairs and settled, sulkily, into his usual seat, 'Tosh has told you that we think the emotional strain that Jones picked up through your link with him caused a sort of power surge, yeah?' Jack nodded impatiently, 'Well' continued Owen,' I can confirm that Dr. Parry did all the right things including taking regular bloods and putting Ianto through an fMRI scan. He found an unidentified compound, substance, whatever, in Ianto's blood, levels of which seemed to be linked to increased activity in the emotion centre of the brain.' He paused triumphantly.

'Fine' said Jack, 'Somehow I feel as if you are expecting a round of applause but I'm not sure why'

'I'll tell you why,' said Owen, 'Parry could not identify the strange stuff in Ianto's blood because he had never seen it before. But I have, I've seen it every time I look at a sample of your blood, Jack. Ianto Jones is saturated in vortex energy, just the same as you. That's the basis of your link with him. I don't know how but Ianto is chemically and empathically bonded with you.

'But...how?' gasped Jack wildly

'I. Don't. Know' said Owen slowly, rolling his eyes 'I just told you that, do pay attention. But I can tell you that the levels of vortex energy spiked when you were being tortured and shot off the scale when, as far as Tosh and I can calculate, you actually died, thing is they haven't dropped as far as we can tell, even though you are back with us. I have tech Parry couldn't even begin to imagine but we need to get Ianto away from the Cynnal tŷ pen facility and back here to the hub if we are to have a chance of sorting this mess out.'

Jack jumped to his feet, 'no argument from me on that one' he said as he headed out into he main area of the Hub. Suzie was waiting there, holding Jack's coat out for him, He took it from her, holding onto her hand for a split second longer than necessary, 'thank you, Suzie' he said softly looking into her eyes, trying to communicate his gratitude for more than just the coat.

Suzie blushed, 'No problem Jack'.

Message received and understood.

Owen trotted up behind Jack and slipped a case of filled syringes into his pocket, 'little something I've been working on' he grinned, 'injectable Retcon, one dose should take about 12-18 months worth of memories, just in case you need it.'

'Nice' said Jack appreciatively

'Tosh looked over from her work station, 'I've worked out the coordinates of the medical area where Ianto is being held' she told Jack, 'and sent them to your wrist strap, so with luck you can jump straight to his bedside'

Jack looked at his team and felt a lump form in his throat, all of them working so hard to save one person for no other reason than because Jack loved him, god he was so lucky to have them. Suzie gave him a little push, 'well, what are you waiting for?' she asked.

With the broadest smile any of the team had seen on his face for a very long time, Jack accessed the coordinates Tosh had given him and disappeared.


	18. Chapter 18

When he was a small boy, before his mother got sick, one of the things Ianto had enjoyed most was being taken shopping by his parents on a Saturday in Cardiff city centre. He, his tad and his mam would spend the morning exploring the goods on offer in the big department stores, stopping at around 11 for milkshakes and doughnuts. They would then do more shopping, have a nice lunch in the restaurant of one of the stores and then go to the Saturday afternoon pictures. Usually his mam would go to see a different to film to that of Ianto and his tad, muttering something about 'down time'. Ianto loved sitting in the dark, holding his tad's hand, feeling safe and loved.

One Saturday, not long before Christmas, when Ianto was about six years old he had slipped his hand out of his mam's and run off to look at a massive display of Star Wars toys; he had been hoping to get a Millennium Falcon from Father Christmas. Once he had managed to tear his attention away from the amazing toys on show, he realised that his parent were nowhere in sight and he was completely alone. Ianto had immediately panicked and run around crying loudly for his mam and tad. It was only a matter of seconds before he was swept up into the tweedy security of his father's arms.

When his sobs had subsided, His tad put him back down and knelt before him looking serious, 'listen to me Ianto' he said, one hand resting heavily of the small boy's shoulder, 'if you EVER lose us again, don't panic, stand completely still and trust that I will come and find you because I promise I always will. If you run around I won't know where to look for you, so it's really important that you remember those two things, 'he held up one finger, smiling as his son copied him, 'one – don't panic' he held up another finger and little Ianto did the same, 'and, two stay still. OK, son?'

Ianto nodded seriously, 'OK, Tad'

As he _laystoodsat _in the dimensionless darkness, with the heat of Jack's last breath curling and purring deep in his chest, Ianto remembered what his tad had told him_, I promise I will always come and find you, just stay still_ it remained good advice he mused. _OK Jack_ he thought to himself_, I'm staying right here until you come for me. I'm not going anywhere unless it is with you._

* * *

Malcolm Parry gave a small grunt of disappointment as he squinted at the computer screen that was displaying Ianto Jones' most recent blood results. There was no real change, definitely no sign of improvement, the strange compound, or whatever it was, showed no sign of dissipating but didn't seem to be having any detectable physiological effect either. In short he was no nearer finding out what had caused the young man's dramatic collapse now than he had been four hours earlier. Tiredly he straightened up and leaned back in his chair; he could not out it off any longer, it was time to call UNIT. As he pulled up the relevant number from the computer files, the room was filled with a brilliant white light and before he was even able to turn to face the intruder a strong American voice said, 'Oh I don't think so, Dr Parry'. Malcolm felt the sting of an injection in the side of his neck and tried once more to turn to face his attacker, his muscles seemed curiously uncooperative and his head was swimming, he could feel unconsciousness beckoning, the last thing he heard as he slipped from his chair to the cold floor, was a soft whisper in his ear, 'this is not the job for you, Dr Parry. Maybe now is the time to volunteer to help run that AIDs clinic in South Africa.'

Silently blessing Owen, Jack disposed of the syringe which had held the Retcon in a handy sharps container. He glanced at where Parry was sleeping peacefully and grimaced; if he had his way he would have taken the Director back to the Hub and beaten him to within an inch of his life for what he had put his beautiful Welshman through or simply put a bullet through the man's skull. The Doctor would be proud at how he had matured. He paused, considered slightly and then kicked Parry, twice, hard, in the balls, _not that mature_ thought Jack to himself with an evil but satisfied grin.

Every instinct he possessed was screaming at him to rush over to where Ianto was lying and snog the young man until he returned to him but Jack knew the most important thing he could do to help Ianto was to down load all of the information that Parry had amassed over the previous hours so that Owen would have as much detailed information as possible to work with. Fingers tapping impatiently, Jack watched as the files transferred to one terabyte portable hard drive he had bought with him, it was slow going but it was the only way to obtain the information without leaving a cyber-trail for others to follow. Tosh had impressed upon him that transferring anything to the cloud or even to the Torchwood mainframe carried a risk of discovery and Jack was unwilling to risk it. Eventually the computer gave a self satisfied little burp of completion and with a grunt of approval Jack disconnected the hard drive and stowed it in an internal pocket in his coat. Now he could finally act upon his own desires

He wasted no more time in moving to Ianto's bedside. He stood for a brief while just staring at the comatose young man; s_o beautiful_, reflected Jack. Long dark lashes fanned out against creamy pale skin, he looked like he was sleeping. Jack stroked Ianto's face with the tips of his fingers; his cheek was cool to his touch, every few seconds, _too few, surely_, thought Jack fearfully, a soft exhalation of breath brushed across his skin. With a muffled sob Jack pulled the unresponsive body into his arms, dropping desperate kisses across Ianto's forehead, burying his face in the soft dark hair

'Yan' he murmured, 'please, please come back to me. I want you safe with me so much, please Yan, I'm begging here.' The body in his arms remained insensate. He straightened up with Ianto held closely and firmly against his chest, punched a command into his wrist strap and disappeared in a blaze of white light.

Barely seconds after Jack and his precious burden had disappeared; one of the guards unlocked the sick bay and entered to carry out his usual hourly security check. It was standing orders throughout the facility that all rooms should be secured at all times. He stood aghast, inside the locked room, Dr Parry was asleep on the floor and the comatose patient he had been caring for had completely vanished.

* * *

'C'mon, c'mon' The Doctor thumped the Tardis console, yelping as a small electric shock stung his fingers. He had been stuck in the time vortex for two days now and he was becoming increasingly frustrated as the Tardis remained completely unresponsive. He had carried out routine checks on all the things that were, shall we say, delicate and for once they were all functioning efficiently but that didn't alter the fact that he was dead in the water. His investigation had proved fruitless, the Tardis was not malfunctioning, she was to all intents and purposes, parked. And, it would appear, sulking since she was ignoring all attempts being made by the Doctor to find out what was bothering her.

Deciding to try honey rather than vinegar, the Doctor stroked the control panel _talk to me_ he pleaded telepathically, _what's the matter with you_? He tried to clear his mind, but the Tardis remained obdurate and silent, the Doctor frowned, communication between a Time Lord and his Tardis should not be this difficult. _Please_, he sent down their link, _tell me_

The lights in the control room dimmed and brightened imperceptibly almost as if the Tardis had given an uncomfortable or embarrassed wriggle. The Doctor frowned; she was sending him a feeling,

'Guilt?' he asked, 'what are you guilty about?

The air in the corner of the control room shimmered and a holographic image appeared, a tall, handsome man, smiling and laughing. Jack Harkness. 'You are guilty because you did something to Jack' said the Doctor slowly, then he shook his head as the Tardis sent more telepathic information directly to his mind, 'no, not to Jack, for Jack. You were sorry about what Jack had endured what Rose did to him, what...what I, we did to him; so you did something for Jack to help him continue to heal and now you feel guilty. So, why did you do it, hmm?'

A word appeared in the Doctor's mind, written in letters of red and golden fire, RECOMPENSE. A small frown marred the Doctor's handsome face, 'you tried to compensate Jack for the agony of his immortality? What did you do?'

A soft chime sounded throughout the Tardis and the Doctor stiffened placing his hands to his forehead as the Tardis showed him exactly what she had done and what the consequences of her actions had been. After, a few minutes the Doctor lowered his hand, his face was grave, 'oh' he said, 'this is not good, not good.' The lighting in the room changed to a sombre ochre colour, 'yes we have to fix this, we have to help.' He began desperately pushing buttons and moving levers and he gave an exultant laugh as the Tardis finally responded.

'Don't worry old girl. This was not entirely your fault, I'm sure Jack will understand and I'm almost sure we can fix this, 98% sure, well, maybe 86% definitely more that 50% sure. Possibly.'

* * *

Jack had calibrated his newly functional wrist strap with such precision that he and Ianto appeared right in the middle of the medical bay. Gently he lay his unconscious lover down on the bed Owen had all ready for him and Tosh and Owen moved around him in a positive ballet of blood taking and monitor placement. Suzie came and stood in the doorway watching the two of them working in complete unison. Owen placed a pulse oximeter on the end of Ianto's index finger and gave a small tut at the reading it gave him. Jack's head shot up, 'Owen? Problem?'

Owen placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, 'Relax, Captain. His oxygen sats are a bit low but seeing his respirations are only about 5 per minute, that's hardly surprising. All things considered he seems to be in remarkably good shape.'

'Can you fix him? Can you get him back?' asked Jack anxiously.

Owen shrugged, 'Jack, we don't even know where, if anywhere, he is. It's obvious that he is processing emotions because his amygdala is enlarged and working flat out but I need to do more tests on him and on you so that I can compare your physiology, OK'

Jack nodded 'whatever you need, Owen. Just, please, bring him back to me' Jack slumped at the bedside and took Ianto's flaccid hand in his, carefully twining their fingers together and resting their joined hands against his cheek. Owen looked up and made eye contact with Suzie over Jacks bowed head. She gave a small nod and a smile and went to see what luck Tosh's programmes were having reaching the Doctor.

* * *

Four hours later, an exhausted Owen stretched and rubbed his red and sore eyes as Tosh made her way down into the medical bay. He took the sandwich and the large takeaway coffee she offered with a grateful smile.

'Any change?' asked Tosh

Owen shook his head, 'not in either of them. Ianto is still comatose and Jack is still sitting by his bed, holding his hand and pleading with him to return.'

'Anything showing up on the tests?' asked Tosh

'Yeah, in a way,' said Owen, 'but I'm not sure how it helps'

They both looked across at where Jack was a fixture by the young man's bedside, murmuring sweetly to him in a low voice. Owen sighed heavily, catching Jack's attention, 'Owen?' he threw over his shoulder, never once taking his eyes from Ianto's placid face.

Owen shrugged, 'Well, I can tell you that as far as brain scans go his is more like yours than probably anyone else on the planet. You have a particularly large amygdala...' Jack smirked and Owen rolled his eyes, '...a particularly large amygdala' he repeated, 'which I have always put down to evolution, it means you process emotions significantly differently to me or Tosh or Suzie. His emotional processing is now almost identical to yours, his EEG – his brain wave activity - is synching with yours too. The vortex energy signature in his blood is approximating the energy signature that is in yours. This link or bond, or whatever it is, is getting stronger and stronger, emotionally and physiologically his responses are aligning with yours, there is a very real chance, Jack that he could end up as hard to kill as you are.'

'Is that why he was able to follow me into death?' asked Jack sadly.

'Probably' said Owen.

'So, why was he unable to follow me back to life?'

'I'm sorry, Captain, I don't have an answer for that one.'

'Have you any idea what could have made this happen? ' said Tosh.

'I think I may have some insight into that' said a familiar but unexpected voice from the top of the stairs.

For the first time since Jack had returned from Cynnal tŷ pen, he dragged his eyes always from Ianto's face and showed a proper interest in what was going on around him, 'Doctor? What are you doing here? Did you get Tosh's messages, if so you are too late, I've got him back but he's ...he's...' Jack wiped his eyes roughly and returned his attention to Ianto.

'Messages? No, no, just happened to be passing, thought I'd pop in and say hello' said the Doctor hurriedly.

Owen turned to look at him, the doctor seemed ill at ease and uncomfortable. The previous time Owen had met the Timelord his confidence had been overwhelming. _This isn't right _thought Owen, _Something has rattled the Doctor._ He watched how the Doctors eyes rested on Jack, worriedly_, it's something to do with Jack _Owen concluded

The Doctor appeared to notice Owen's scrutiny; he jumped down the stairs and moved towards Ianto then he paused and turned to Owen, 'may I, Dr Harper?'

Slightly awe struck and a little confused, Owen stepped back and waved the Doctor forward, 'help yourself'

With a small smile the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and aimed it, firstly at Jack and then at Ianto. Owen watched him closely, noting that he seemed unsurprised by whatever information it was giving him.

'I think, with your permission, doctor, we should move Mr Jones to the Tardis. '

Jack spoke softly, 'Can you help us, Doctor?'

The Doctor placed a comforting hand on Jack's shoulder, 'let's go and see, shall we?'


	19. Chapter 19

It was most peculiar, the atmosphere in the Tardis had started out fairly collegial with all the men focused upon solving the medical and temporal mystery that was Ianto Jones but it deteriorated rapidly to beyond tense and, as far as Owen could see, it was no-one's fault but the Doctor's. It was almost as if the discomfort and embarrassment that Owen had noted in the Doctor earlier was manifesting itself as a belligerent and flippant attitude. Jack had insisted on carrying Ianto to the Tardis sick bay, explaining on the way to the Doctor how the young man had ended up at the Cynnal tŷ pen facility. Owen could not believe how dismissive the Doctor was about delivering Jack back so late, three weeks after the Torchwood Cardiff team had rescued him from Hartman, he gave a insincere and off hand apology that fooled no-one and Owen could tell by the muscle jumping in Jack's temple that the Captain was holding onto his temper with great difficulty.

'So,' said the Doctor airily, 'you get back a little late and you decide to charge in a snatch him in your usual hot-headed fashion'

Owen looked at him in disbelief, was he deliberately trying to goad Jack?

'I tried diplomatic ways to get him out first,' said Jack defensively in the face of the Doctor's disapproving frown as he had recounted the efforts made to retrieve his lover, 'I even used Helena Carter' He paused briefly, focusing all his attention on the man in his arms as he carefully placed Ianto in the centre of a large bed, moving quickly to one side so that Owen could attach various monitors.

'Ah, dear Helena' the Doctor threw a brief warm and reminiscent smile towards Jack which Jack completely ignored, 'I remember her with great affection'

'Oh god' muttered Owen 'I **so **do not want to think about the story behind that statement'

'The thing is' Jack continued, 'this link between Ianto and I, it's getting stronger, Owen says Yan's brainwaves are synching with mine, we have no idea what it means and absolutely no clue why it happened'

'Oh that,' said the Doctor casually,' that would be the work of the Tardis – sorry'

And the shit hit the fan.

* * *

Owen busied himself checking Ianto's health observations and quietly surveying the Tardis medical bay with envious eyes; he had only once seen Jack lose his temper like this before but he knew that silence was the best course of action if one did not want to become collateral damage. The Doctor also was leaning against a wall trying to look unconcerned but really looking as if he wished he could sink right into it and disappear. Jack was raging.

'So, let me get this straight,' said Jack, as he paced the length of the Tardis sick bay, trying to make sense of the garbled explanation the Doctor had provided, 'the Tardis saw how I felt about Ianto Jones when she was helping me heal after London so she decided that she would instil a controlled amount of the time vortex into Ianto to make sure I would never lose him?' He paused and threw a scalding glare of derision at the Doctor, 'was that the plan, make him immortal without even consulting him? Did you approve this? How? How did she even do that?'

The Doctor looked uncomfortable, 'on occasion, the Tardis demonstrates that she has powers that she has concealed, even from me,' he said defensively, 'she searched space and time for him; she had a copy of your DNA, his and yours together. Once she found him she infused a measured amount of the time vortex and distilled essence from your combined DNA into his cells'

Jack looked confused, 'how? How did she even get hold of Ianto's DNA?'

The Doctor blushed, 'she cared for you when you were with us earlier and you...erm...there was...you had...um Mr Jones DNA in er... and he had yours in his...' he trailed off in embarrassment and looked at the floor.

'Oh' Jack worked it out and grinned but it faded quickly, 'why did she do it'

Somewhat shamefaced the Doctor shrugged, 'she told me it was recompense'

'Recompense for what?'

'For letting Rose force this immortal existence upon you, Jack; for making it so hard for me to look at you that I behaved abominably towards you; for condemning you to a long life of losing those you love, time and time again. Because she and I care about you, Jack. The Tardis saw how much you love this young man, she saw the depth of your love and commitment to each other and she wanted to give him to you to keep forever.'

'Give him to me?' asked Jack incredulously, running his hands through his hair, 'give him to me? Ianto Jones is a brilliant shining human being, a unique and precious individual, not a thing to be given as a gift. How dare she? How dare you? I doubt he will ever forgive me for what you have done, and I wouldn't blame him one bit if he refused to have anything more to do with me after this. All you have done is ensure that I will lose him sooner than I would have done if you had both just minded your own fucking business! '

The Doctor looked at his feet again and the lights in the room blinked through a variety of sombre colours, the Tardis was clearly distressed by Jack's distress.

'OK,' said Jack breathing heavily through his nose in an effort to calm himself, 'we can deal with this later. Just bring him back to me and reverse what you did to him.'

The Doctor looked discomforted, 'I don't think I can' he said, 'I don't think I can fix this, Jack. She has made him an impossible thing, just like you. I can't fix you, I can't fix him'

Jack spun on his heel and grabbed hold of the Doctor by his lapels, shaking him hard, 'You are a fucking Timelord,' he growled, 'you can see and affect the whole of space and time. Do not have the nerve to stand there and tell me you cannot or will not do this one thing for me.'

'Jack, he followed you into death. You have been there, you know that it is a dimensionless void; the one place where there is no space or time. It is the one place where I have no jurisdiction, no power.'

Jack thrust the Doctor away from him with such force that the other man bounced off the wall, 'then what fucking use are you?' he snarled, 'what is the point of you? You are a complete waste of skin and sinew!'

'Jack, we need to think clearly, I know you are beyond upset and rightly so, but emotional outbursts aren't** going **to help here' even Owen looked startled at the words coming out of his mouth, he was rarely, if ever the voice of reason. Jack and the Doctor turned to face the medic in surprise, it was clear that they had both forgotten he was there superintending Ianto's transfer from the Hub to the Tardis. 'I mean,' Owen continued apprehensively, 'maybe if we know WHY Ianto didn't follow Jack back to life, it would give us some ideas about how to get him back.'

The Doctor gave Jack an uncertain smile, 'Your brilliant doctor may have a point, you know,' he said

Jack sighed, some of his anger abating, as he slumped down onto a handy stool, 'I know, I know'

* * *

Ianto was amusing himself in the darkness by creating the perfect archive system in his head. He had no idea how long he had been trapped, there was no sense of time and he could have been there for seconds or months but his mental gymnastics were entertaining him and he was by no means bored. He could still feel, although he had no idea why, a warm weight in his chest. Ianto was convinced it was Jack's last breath, lingering somehow in his system. He needed the warmth and reassurance it provided because he was sure that there was something in the darkness with him, it seemed to be circling, searching for him but, and the thought made him smile, the comfort of having some of Jack within him appeared to be a talisman of some description and the confused snuffling shuffling never got any closer than the edge of his hearing. He curled his knees up to his chest to cradle the soothing emotion against his body and closed his eyes, 'C'mon, Jack, come and find me again. I love you and I need you and I think you need me too.'

* * *

The Tardis, keen to ingratiate herself with Jack, had materialised a comfy sofa and a coffee table in the sick bay, Owen coaxed the furious and distressed Captain to sit down and the Doctor, equally eager to toady up to Jack, had provided tea and coffee for the three men. Owen had seated himself between the two men; at Jack's raised eyebrow he had explained 'someone has to act as a human shield to stop you killing him' drawing a small tight smile from the immortal.

'So, 'the Doctor was staring down into his tea, unwilling or unable to look Jack in the eye, 'I understand the link that the Tardis created between you but what happened before you died to enable him to follow you?'

Jack shrugged, 'I dunno' he snapped, 'I was kinda busy having my internal organs ripped out ya'know. He was being held in a secure Torchwood/UNIT facility. I needed to get vortex manipulator fixed in order to get him out. I made a deal with a Zopaedian engineer, he fixed my wrist strap and I volunteered to participate in a Do'Harzo celebration'

The Doctor shuddered, 'Gods, Jack, the Zopaedians?' He groaned and bit his lip, despite what the Tardis had shown him he had no idea that Jack felt so strongly about the young man

Jack scowled, his anger spiking again 'I wouldn't have had to deal with the Zopaedians if someone who professes to "care" so fucking much about me had not disabled the teleport function of my wrist strap'

Owen put a warning hand on Jack's arm, 'Easy, Captain. Anything you can remember may help'

'I know' reaching for calm, Jack screwed his eyes closed in an effort of recall, 'He was there, he was crying because I was being hurt, he said he wasn't worth it and I, I was trying to tell him that he was, then he was kissing me and...when I died I felt him steal my final breath into his own mouth, it was my last memory before death.'

Owen looked at the Doctor, 'could that be it? Could having Jack's breath inside him be what's keeping him in the darkness? Is that even possible?'

The Doctor shrugged, 'I don't see how but then I don't know what is possible or not possible here. It's not like this is a situation that has ever happened before.'

Jack ran his hands over his face, 'he was with me in life, he was with me at the moment I died and afterwards in the nothingness. Why didn't he come back with me?'

Owen was getting an idea, he jumped to his feet and began to pace, 'Could...could it be...' he trailed off into silence for a couple of seconds as he sorted his thoughts, then continued, 'Jack you die, really die, then you come back to your body, which is vacant and waiting for you, nature abhors a vacuum and all that, but Ianto went with you through the link, his body slowed down but he didn't die, not completely, so there is nothing to pull him back, could that be what's keeping him there?'

The Doctor was nodding enthusiastically, 'that actually makes sense. If that's the case then it's obvious what we need to do to get Mr Jones back.'

'Yeess' said Owen slowly and despondently

'So, what' demanded Jack, 'we have to kill him? No way!'

'Jack please, calm down, what Dr Harper says makes sense and we will monitor him very carefully'

'I don't like this' grumbled Jack, 'I don't like it at all. I'll only agree to it if I can go first, try to contact him, tell him what we are going to attempt.' He fumbled at his side and drew his Webley

Moving quickly to Jack's side, Owen grasped his wrist in a surprisingly strong grip, 'Hello, medic here. I can send you off in a much less painful way.' He dragged Jack over to a worktop and gestured at the drugs cupboard on the wall, 'Nice sedative overdose,' he suggested, almost in the manner of a waiter recommending a good wine, 'peaceful, nonviolent and painless; you first, then him.' He looked at Jack whose eyes were sparkling with unshed tears and whose hands were trembling with an effort to control his fear and his fury. He squeezed Jack's wrist again in an effort to reassure, 'two minutes, tops Jack, I swear. If he's not back on his own I'll get him back for you, I promise.'

Jack looked at the Doctor, who nodded reassuringly, 'between us, we can get him back I guarantee it'

The look of distain and contempt on Jack's face was such that the Doctor took an involuntary step backwards, 'You! Doctor, after all the things you have done to me, why would I trust you?'

The Doctor reached out and clutched at Jack's hand, 'because you always have, because the Tardis and I have tried to help you in the past and...because I...we...love you.'

'No' Jack snatched his hand away, and moved to Ianto's bedside stroking the unconscious young man's cheek softly 'I have no choice but to trust you because I love him and for him there is no alliance I would not tolerate, no matter how personally distasteful.' He hopped up onto the bed next to his lover, pulled him into his arms and rolled up his sleeve. He looked over to where Owen was waiting with a full syringe, 'Do it' he commanded.


	20. Chapter 20

It was the tiny sparkle of light, glimmering in the unending darkness that caught Ianto's attention at first. It glimmered in the corner of his eye and the next thing he knew, he was enfolded in a warm strong embrace and his mouth was captured in a passionate kiss.

'Hello you'

Jack nuzzled into his neck, 'So glad I found you' he murmured

Ianto kissed him, 'I'm glad too. Jack, did you know there is something in the dark with us?'

'Have you seen it?'

'No. This will sound stupid but I think I have your last breath still inside me, I can feel it; I think that is confusing whatever is out there so that it can't find me but I've heard it.'

Jack gave a relieved sigh, 'Looks like I came just in time'

Ianto ran worried hands over Jack's body, 'I'm so sorry, Cariad'

'Sorry for what?' asked Jack puzzled

'Sorry for being so pleased to have you here, sorry that you have obviously died again. I don't want bad things to happen to you.'

Jack kissed him again and pulled him even closer, 'It's OK sweetheart, it was one of my better deaths, I've come to tell you what is happening. We think we know why you are still here, you followed me here through the link and your body is still alive. Owen thinks there is nothing to pull you back'

Ianto couldn't help it, he giggled, 'so you are trying to tell me I'm only "mostly dead"? You gonna call in Miracle Max?'

Jack laughed loudly, remembering the rainy afternoon in the office when, with little work to distract them, Ianto had made him watch 'The Princess Bride' claiming to be outraged that Jack had never seen the film which was one of Ianto's favourites. He had soon come to regret it, the following days Jack had delighted in leaping into the office declaiming in an appalling Spanish accent "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." It had had driven Ianto close to madness especially when, on another occasion, Jack had paused in the middle of giving Ianto the blow job of his life to trot out the damn quotation out one more time. 'Not quite,' he said, 'but Owen is on the case.'

'Great' huffed Ianto, 'I feel so much better'

Jack hugged him, 'Gods I love you so much. None of this fazes you, does it? You are so brilliant' He ran his hands down Ianto's back, squeezing his buttocks affectionately. He could feel the pull of resurrection tugging in his bowels and by the way that Ianto was tensing up he guessed that the Welshman was feeling the same thing. 'We're going home, beautiful' Jack whispered, 'try to relax, don't try to fight it. Close your eyes and imagine me holding your hand all the way back.'

'Jack' Ianto's voice was fading in and out like a badly tuned radio, 'if this doesn't work, please don't blame yourself, I wouldn't have missed loving you for anything'

'Oh, Yan,' Jack sounded as if he was trying not to cry, 'I promise you that as soon as this is sorted out you and I are going to be spending at least a week in the penthouse suite of the St David's hotel. I will fuck you until you can barely remember your own name, you will fuck me until I can only remember your name and I swear that the only times we will leave the suite is when we go outside to fuck each other on the balcony'

Ianto's chuckle was faint and distant, 'I'll look forward to that, Sir' and he faded away from Jack's arms.

Jack was alone in the dark.

* * *

Owen and the Doctor stood at the bedside watching the two men carefully. As Owen had injected the sedative overdose into Jack's arm, Jack had pulled Ianto into a tight embrace. The Doctor had opened his mouth to protest but had been quelled by a glare from Owen.

'It will make it harder to resuscitate Mr Jones with Jack wrapped round him like that' hissed the Doctor as Jack quietly slipped away.

'Jack needs this' snapped Owen, 'and I'm sorry but you don't get a say.' He turned and picked up another full syringe and began to inject the contents into Ianto's arm. Once he had discarded the needle he picked up a stop watch and pressed the button.

The Doctor was watching with his head on one side, 'you really don't like me very much, do you Dr. Harper?'

Owen ignored him, 'Two minutes then we resuscitate, Ok?' he said

The Doctor nodded and pulled a small piece of kit from a box in a nearby cupboard, 'this will do the trick if the worst comes to the worst. Got it from a military hospital ship in the 44th century, all you need to do is put it over his heart and press the purple button; it acts like a defibrillator.'

'Yeah, OK, get on with it then' Owen was concentrating on the seconds ticking away on the stopwatch, ignoring the Doctor's pout as he placed the futuristic defib on Ianto's chest.

'You know, you could be a bit more impressed, this is future tech' the Doctor snarked

'Yeah, yeah, I work in a secret underground base for an immortal man from the 51st century who, now apparently has an equally immortal lover' muttered Owen, 'colour me blasé about you and your toys...' he broke off as Ianto's body began to convulse, 'shit, what now?' He grabbed his stethoscope from round his neck and moved to roll Jack off of Ianto, then he paused and a smile spread across his face as Ianto gave a huge gasping breath and his eyes flickered open.

* * *

It was far too bright. Ianto wanted to cover his eyes to protect them from the relentless glare but he was being held in a loose hug. For a brief second he panicked and struggled to free himself then the familiar scent of Jack Harkness impinged on his sense and he forced himself to relax. _Safe_ he thought, _Jack has me in his arms and I am safe._ He felt Jack give a strangled gasp as he too returned to life, the arms around him tightened and Ianto made sure that he was holding Jack as tightly as Jack was holding him. They were back, they were together and everything was OK.

Jack gasped his way back to life, eyes screwed tight against the light that stabbed into his eyes. The Tardis picked up on his distress and lowered the ambient light to a more bearable level. Jack heard someone give a soft moan of approval close to his ear. Someone was holding him in a warm embrace, arms tight around him, loving him, offering comfort. 'Ianto' Jack opened his eyes to find Ianto Jones smiling at him. They were back, they were together and everything was OK, for now, although Jack was fearful that once he had told Ianto the truth about what had happened to him, he would reject him. He closed his eyes, pulled Ianto into a desperate kiss hoping to imprint the sensation on his memory in case it was the last time.

Owen placed a gentle hand on Jack's back, 'I need to check him out Jack' he said quietly. 'you have to let him go. I promise you can have him back as soon as I'm done with him.'

Reluctantly, Jack released Ianto, equally reluctantly Ianto let go of Jack. Stretching and grimacing as his stiff muscles protested at his increased activity he clambered from the bed and stood swaying and blinking uncertainly at Owen who offered a supportive hand.

'C'mon mate, I think we had better get you back into the Hub so I can check you out.'

The Doctor cleared his throat, 'I can ask the Tardis to get his previous examination results from your computer if you like so you can work here' he offered

Owen shook his head, 'I prefer my own lab, thank you Doctor, 'he said with icy politeness, 'I think you and your little time machine have done enough to these men plus I think Tosh would disembowel you if she thought you were rampaging around in Mainframe.'

The Doctor straightened indignantly, 'Firstly, I do not rampage! And secondly, how dare you refer to the Tardis as a little time machine?'

Owen steered a bemused Ianto towards the door and waved an indifferent hand, 'whatever, I have work to do'

As the two men exited the Tardis Ianto could be heard asking plaintively, 'what has he done to us?'

'Talk to Jack'

* * *

Jack took himself down to his bunker that was hidden beneath his office, stripped off and stepped into his shower. He felt sweaty and gritty and grubby. He put his hands on the tiled wall and bent his head into the shower spray, he smiled remembering the last time he had stood like this and Ianto had joined him through their link. With only a small amount of effort Jack could feel Ianto's presence in his mind, it felt warm with the texture of fine wool and silk, like one of Ianto's suits, it glowed with a clear blue light in the corner of Jack's mind. He reached out and could feel Ianto's irritation at being poked and prodded by Owen who seemed intent on running every physiological test known to man and alien when all he really wanted to do was be with Jack. Jack could tell the exact moment that Ianto felt his presence and a wave of love came through the link. Jack grinned '_nearly done?_' he sent and smiled at Ianto's shock at being able to hear Jack in his head

'_Think so'_ he sent back, '_Owen is running out of orifices in which to stick things'_

'_I can think of places to stick things'_ thought Jack sending Ianto an explicit image of himself buried balls deep in the young Welshman's arse. He heard faint howl of horror from the medical bay and felt Ianto's amusement

'_Don't make my cock twitch when Owen is checking reflexes, sir'_

'_Just wishing you were with me is all'_ thought Jack innocently as he slowly stroked his own erection

'_I'm on my way'_ sent Ianto, '_don't come until I'm there with you'_

Jack grinned as, barely a minute later, the door to the shower cubical opened and a warm body and hard cock pressed against his back.

'Yan, we need to talk' he gasped

'Later' growled Ianto, 'us first, talk later' and he pushed into Jack and all coherent thought stopped for both of them

An hour later Jack and Ianto lay naked and in each other's arms on the small bed in Jack's sleeping quarters. Ianto laughed when he realised that they were both tracing the same patterns on each other's skin.

'Does it feel weird?' he asked Jack

'Does what feel weird?' mumbled Jack sucking Ianto's ear lobe

'Owen says I'm becoming genetically more like you, he says I'm processing emotions like you and now this...' he ran his fingers over the skin of Jack's chest smiling as simultaneously Jack traced the same word, _beloved, _on his back.

Jack sighed and sat up, pulling Ianto with him so that they could sit facing each other, he took a deep breath, 'Yan,' he said, 'this is all my fault'

Ianto raised a quizzical eyebrow, 'how so?'

Jack took hold of Ianto's hand and began to play with his fingers, 'After you got me out of Torchwood London,' he said quietly, 'I was a bit of a mess so the Tardis tried to help me. She saw, she saw...' his voice broke slightly

'She saw how much you love me' said Ianto softly.

Jack nodded, 'she thought she was helping, she made you like me,' he continued sadly, 'you will live for millennia, you will heal at a remarkable rate and, oh Ianto, if you die I don't think you will stay dead and I'm sorry Yan, I am so, so sorry.' He rested his head down on Ianto's shoulder

Ianto frowned, 'Sorry she did this to me or sorry that we have each other forever? Because from where I am sitting Jack, being loved by you, being with you forever, having you for eternity is...just...brilliant'

'Are you certain?' asked Jack worriedly, 'have you really thought what it means? Losing everyone you love, being scared to allow yourself to care for anyone because you know that sooner or later they will leave you alone, being terrified that when the person you love finds out about your immortality they will reject you?'

Ianto leant forward and took Jack's face in his hands, 'Am I going to lose you?' he asked softly

Jack leant into his touch, 'never whilst there is breath in this body'

Ianto placed a soft kiss on Jack's mouth, 'are you going to leave me alone?' smiling as he felt Jack's mumbled 'no' against his own lips. 'Are you going to reject me?'

'I can't think of a single thing that could force me to do that'

'See' Ianto's hand drifted down Jack's body towards his groin, fondling and teasing, sliding his fingers behind Jack's balls to stroke the soft sensitive perineum behind, smiling at the needful moans he drew from the older man, 'I get this for eternity, I get you, forever – so tell me, how is that not brilliant?'

Jack rolled them both, so that Ianto was pinned beneath him; he could not believe that Ianto was so OK with all of this 'it is' he laughed freely and joyously, 'it is, it is brilliant'

* * *

The Doctor stood in front of the Tardis smiling awkwardly at Owen, Suzie and Tosh, he was hanging around to say goodbye to Jack but it was becoming increasingly obviously that Jack and Ianto were unlikely to emerge from Jack's quarters any time soon. The atmosphere was bordering on the arctic as the three members of Torchwood gazed stony faced at the discomforted Timelord.

'Where's Jack' he asked, looking around the Hub

'Busy' said Suzie shortly

'Only I think it's time for me to get going' said the Doctor, waving his sonic screwdriver in the air 'and I need to disable Jack's wrist strap before I leave.'

'No' said Owen flatly

The Doctor raised an eyebrow, 'No?'

Suzie stepped forward, 'No' she affirmed, 'I saw Jack go through the agonies of hell to get his vortex manipulator fixed. I will not allow you to diminish his sacrifice or erase his triumph so you will not be allowed anywhere near Jack before you leave'

The Doctor was beginning to get irritated, 'Do you know who you are talking to little girl?' he sneered, 'I am the last of the Timelords, whole planets tremble at the possibility of my anger. I am the oncoming storm. I police time and space and I am not prepared to allow Jack Harkness to return to his time hopping con man ways'

Owen stepped up to stand shoulder to shoulder with Suzie, 'yeah, about that' he said smugly, 'in the first place Jack has changed a lot since the last time you saw him, he has had over one hundred years to grow up in. He is a good man, an ethical man, in his own way, and an extremely loyal man and as far as roaming time and space goes it seems to me that the only place Jack wants to be is by the side of the man who has all of his loyalty and love and that would be Ianto Jones. Ianto is here in Cardiff and that's where Jack will stay until Ianto wants to leave.' The Doctor snorted derisively but Owen was unfazed and continued in the same forthright manner,' and in the second place, I've been watching you closely every time we have met. You love being the big hero, sweeping in, helping us lesser races clean up the crap we bring down on our selves, you do it all with a condescending and patronising smile. All this last of the Timelord angst is partly to support your planetary sized ego, all this mystery and carefully revealed pain is, I think, merely a ploy to make yourself interesting and appealing. Jeez you made that poor bastard Harkness fall so hopelessly in love with you that he would forgive you any and all of the shitty things you have done to him. I watched you, in the Tardis, when he held Ianto on his arms and it burns you inside that he loves him more than he ever has you, even thought you don't really want his love. Ask yourself why Jack has so many people who love him, people who would die for him, ask yourself why your Tardis saw Jack's loneliness and rightly or wrongly tried to ensure that he had a companion forever, then ask yourself why it is that your companions always leave you and why you travel alone. I think that the reason that you are so adamant that you don't want to leave Jack with a functioning wrist strap is that you know what a hero he is and you don't want to share the universe with him because people will very quickly see that of the two of you, he is the better man.'

The Doctor stood aghast; no one had ever spoken to him like this in any of his lives. He simply stared, mouth slightly open at Suzie and Owen who glared back at him. He became aware that the small slim figure of Toshiko Sato had also stepped forward and joined them.

'We are unanimous in our decision,' she said softly, 'we are grateful for your help, although it seems to me that your help demands excessive payment from those you assist. Whilst you have been here you have constantly told me how brilliant you think I am so I guess you will not be surprised when I tell you that I have designed a dampening field that covers the entire hub, a dampening field that means that...' she paused and ran her eyes over the sonic screwdriver contemptuously,' pitifully small piece of equipment you are waving around so importantly will not work in here.'

The Doctor laughed condescendingly at them, 'look at you all, so brave, so loyal, defending your Captain. He will leave you all, he'll take his little fuck buddy and head back out into the stars. What will you do, the three of you, when Jack is gone and you are left with the Rift?'

Suzie spoke up, 'we will cope and the reason we will cope is because we are, all of us, trained by Jack Harkness. If he goes we will hope he comes back. If he does come back we will welcome him and if he doesn't we will always be proud to have been associated with him. We are not children, Doctor and we will protect our planet to the best of our ability, just like we do now.'

Tosh spoke up, 'We are prepared to over look how you have been speaking and acting towards Jack on the grounds that we believe this behaviour is because you feel guilty about what you and your Tardis have done but don't know how to apologise or make it up to him or Ianto and because you have been helpful to us in the past but we suggest you go now before we re-evaluate that stance.

Behind him, the Doctor heard the doors of the Tardis squeak open, 'time for you to leave' said Owen, 'even your Tardis thinks so.'

Silently the Doctor turned on his heel and stalked into the Tardis and the doors equally silently closed behind him.

* * *

Suzie and Tosh let of simultaneous sighs of relief as the wind of the Tardis dematerialisation died away. Owen grinned, 'A dampening field Tosh? Really?'

Tosh laughed scornfully, 'I think you were right, the Doctor isn't as half clever as he thinks he is if he bought that load of bullshit. When in the last two days have I had the time to develop something as sophisticated as that?'

Owen pulled her close and kissed her, 'you sounded so plausible, you clever minx'

Tosh smiled, 'I did have a little fiddle with Jack's wrist strap when you had him sedated after he got back from Cynnal tŷ pen. If the Doctor runs into Jack again he may find it harder to disable his wrist strap than previously.'

Owen put his arms around both of his colleagues, 'we were all fucking brilliant and I say we go out and drink ourselves stupid.'

'Sounds fantastic' said Tosh

Suzie laughed and pulled a slim plastic card from her pocket, 'Torchwood credit card says we have dinner too'

Laughing, chattering happily and so very pleased with themselves the three of them left the Hub to Jack and Ianto. As the cog wheel door rolled closed behind them a soft American voice from the doorway of Jack's office, echoed through the hub,

'Thanks, guys'


	21. Chapter 21

**Three days later**

Someone idly surveying the early evening customers of the bar of the St. David's hotel would sooner or later have had their attention grabbed by the well dressed young man who seemed to be gazing out of the window with intense concentration, oblivious to what was going on around him. They may have assumed that the young man was captivated by the incredible view but they would have been wrong. Ianto Jones was indifferent to the spectacular vista; instead he was studying his own reflection and considering how his life had transformed so dramatically in just over two months. He looked just the same as the shy, easily flustered young man who had cannoned into Jack Harkness all those weeks again in the food court atrium of Torchwood Tower but, oh, how he had changed.

* * *

On the night the Doctor had left, it had taken Ianto a lot of effort to convince Jack that he was more than alright with what the Tardis had done to him. They had tentatively explored their link, sending emotions, thoughts and words to each other; rejoicing in the depth and strength of the bond between them. Jack had shown Ianto images of his childhood home, let him experience some of the pain and agony he had lived through whilst biding his time waiting for the Doctor. Ianto had shown him memories of his childhood Saturdays at the pictures with his Tad and then had let him see how things had deteriorated once his mam had passed. They had talked about what they might do now that Jack's vortex manipulator was working again; Jack had hesitantly suggested that they should take a couple of months off to explore the universe, there was so much he wanted to show to Ianto, but they would eventually return so that he could stay in Cardiff with his team and had been overjoyed when Ianto had calmly informed him that he would have expected no less of him. Jack had been astonished at the easy way that Ianto had accepted that his bonded life mate was well over one hundred and seventy years old, whilst Ianto was touched by the understanding and love that Jack had transmitted to him when Ianto showed him things his father had done. They had talked and touched each other for a long time until, reassured, Jack had fallen into a light sleep in Ianto's arms. Raised voices from the Hub had drawn them up into Jack's office where they had stood silently holding each other, listening to Suzie, Owen and Tosh take on the Doctor. Jack had moved to stand in the doorway to watch as his team left for their celebratory meal and Ianto had to wipe his eyes as Jack's whispered a heartfelt and gentle 'thanks, guys' to their departing backs.

* * *

The following day they had gone to clear out Ianto's flat in London. Ianto had been afraid to go inside, remembering how Hartman had told him that his home had been trashed. He really didn't want to see the chaos and ruin that had been wrought on his small treasures; he was worried about the few photos he had of his mum and for the books about cinema and film making that his dad had bought for him when he was a boy, he had a model of the millennium Falcon that he had had since he was six, he knew to an outsider these things were trivial but to him they were so precious and he wasn't sure how he would cope with their destruction. His relief when he saw that most of the damage was cosmetic and that his few possessions were more or less unharmed was immense. He stood in the living room of his flat shaking slightly, gazing sadly round at his belongings that had been scattered haphazardly across the floor. Jack slid a supportive arm around him,

'It's not that bad' he murmured reassuringly, 'It looks worse than it is'

'I know' said Ianto, 'It's just...just...'

'Just that this was your space,' said Jack understanding, 'access was limited only to the people you trusted, this, it's like a rape.'

'Yeah' whispered Ianto

Jack pulled him close and held him for a very long time.

Eventually they had peeled themselves apart and spent the day packing. Ianto had prohibited Jack from touching his suits so Jack was relegated to packing books and DVDs. Working quietly in the living room, Jack had wisely bitten his tongue and kept quiet as Ianto ripped up every photograph he possessed of Lisa and dumped the shreds in a rubbish bag together with any other evidence that she had ever been in his life.

Jack had finished in the living room and was heading to the bedroom to get his next list of jobs from Ianto who was still busy packing up his clothes. He paused in the doorway, taking time to appreciate the strong lines of Ianto's back and shoulders, striding worriedly into the room as he heard Ianto give a smothered sob; his lover was sitting on the edge of the bed holding a framed photo of Geraint that he had picked up from the floor, brushing his fingers over the image of his ex-boyfriend's face. Jack climbed up onto the bed behind him and snaked his arms around his waist, resting his chin on Ianto's shoulder

'He was gorgeous' he said softly.

'Ianto sighed, 'yes he was. He loved me very much but I was too insecure to believe that, even when he asked me to marry him'

Jack's arms tightened, 'Did you say yes?'

Ianto shook his head, 'I was afraid' he admitted

Jack kissed him on the back of his neck, smiling against his skin as Ianto's breathing hitched, 'would you be afraid to say yes if I asked you?'

'Nothing you could ask me could scare me' said Ianto, 'keeping you with me, being with you is the most important thing in the world to me'

'Then you will?'

'Of course, I will'

They kissed tenderly, their contentment glowing through their bond, soothing them. Jack reached down and gently took the photo frame from Ianto's fingers,' we'll keep this' he said, 'put it up somewhere in the flat, I don't want you to feel like you have to forget him, Yan'

'Thank you, Jack'

'He was mad to walk away from you' whispered Jack, 'but I'm glad he did'

Ianto turned in the circle of Jack's arms, leaning in for another kiss, 'yeah, me too'

* * *

They had debated staying in London but decide to drive back to Cardiff and move the things that Ianto wanted to keep into the quay side apartment they now shared the following day. Although it had been very late when they had finally got home, Ianto had woken up early. He made himself a coffee and slipped out onto their small balcony to watch the sunrise. Eventually, when it became apparent that Jack would not be joining him any time soon, he dressed and began to methodically and noiselessly move the boxes from the parking garage up into the spacious living area of their flat. Pausing in his work, he cast an affectionate glance in to the bedroom where Jack quietly snuffled in a tranquil sprawl across their bed. He had let out a little moan of discontent as Ianto had slipped from his arms but Ianto had sent a small pulse of love down their link and the older man had soon relaxed back into sleep. Ianto smiled at the picture of utter contentment that Jack made.

Exhausted, Ianto slumped onto the sofa, pulled off his tee shirt and wiped his sweaty face and chest clean. There hadn't been that many boxes but had really been a more than one person job. He jumped as an amused voice came from the bedroom doorway,

'Ianto Jones, are you getting sweaty without me?'

Ianto grinned up at him, 'well you obviously needed your sleep old man'

Jack looked affronted, 'old man? Old man? I'll show you old man you little brat.' And he leapt onto the sofa rolling them both to the floor before fucking Ianto into a state of total ecstasy.

* * *

And now Ianto was waiting in the bar at the St David's, waiting for Jack to send for him as per the text he had received earlier that afternoon. Jack had been most mysterious about his plans for Ianto but when Ianto had attempted to probe Jack's mind through their bond, to his great astonishment he had been held down, stripped and spanked thoroughly. The thought made him shift uncomfortably in his seat; his arse was still a little tender but the memory made him smile broadly, he had never been spanked by a lover before and he hadn't expected to enjoy it quite so much. Jack had a way of pushing Ianto's boundaries that Ianto found exhilarating. When he had finished, Jack had gently and penitently kissed the heated skin of Ianto's bottom, placing long soothing licks across the fiery flesh that had made Ianto groan with a pleasure, which was only compounded when Jack sneakily slid his tongue inside him causing him to come with a loud surprised yell. Jack had then pumped his own erection, shouting Ianto's name as his hot come spattered over Ianto's bruised buttocks. Jack had held him as he came down from his orgasm, gently massaging his spunk into Ianto's soft heated skin. He kissed Ianto soundly and bounced from the bed.

'Have to go' he said

Ianto tried to make his brain work, not an easy job with Jack Harkness induced orgasm endorphins rioting through his body, 'whaa...where...'

Jack laughed and kissed him, 'when we were dead I promised you a week at the St David's, Did you think I would forget?'

Ianto had laughed until he cried, 'That is something I never thought I would hear from the lips of the man I love.'

Jack pouted, 'you did think I would forget' he said petulantly

Hurriedly Ianto pushed himself up onto his knees, hissing as his heels brushed against his abused bum, he stroked Jack's face, 'no, it was just hearing you say "when we were dead" in such a matter of fact way. It tickled me, that's all'

Jack sobered, 'Yan, this is our life now. Are you –'

Ianto interrupted him, turning round, wriggling his arse at him and speaking over his shoulder, 'Jack, if you ask me again if I'm OK with this I swear to every god ever invented, it will be at least a decade before you get within licking distance of this again!'

Jack staggered back, theatrically, 'you wouldn't'

Ianto grinned evilly and wriggled his arse again, 'dare you risk it?'

Jack groaned, 'you will be the death of me Ianto Jones.'

'Then it will be a comfort to you to know that if I am, I will follow you. I've done it before, wasn't that hard.'

* * *

The gentle sound of a throat being cleared dragged Ianto back to reality. A tall handsome young man was standing by his table,

'Mr Ianto Jones?' the man enquired. Ianto nodded. The young man offered Ianto a card key and a plastic credit card sized information card, 'My name is Gareth and it is my pleasure to care for you during your stay with us, if you need anything, anything at all, phone me on that number and I will do my very best to accommodate you.' Ianto smirked briefly imagining what Jack would have made of an offer like that, then he focused his attention back on what Gareth was saying, 'now, if you will follow me, sir, I will escort you to your private lift that will take you directly to your suite.'

The lift deposited Ianto in a small hallway with an impressive set of double doors facing him. Swallowing hard and smoothing his damp palms along the side of his trousers Ianto pushed open the doors and walked in. The room was dark and intimate, lit by a few lamps that gave off a soft romantic glow. The view of Cardiff bay, just visible through the darkened glass of the balcony windows was spectacular but it was not that which caused Ianto's breath to catch in his throat and every drop of blood in his body rush enthusiastically to his cock.

Helena Carter was sprawled on the California King sized bed, blonde hair streaming across her naked shoulders staring at him with smouldering lust filled eyes. Propped comfortably on a mound of pillows, she was wearing a scarlet satin corset and sheer black hold up stockings, her feet were encased in the bright red stiletto heels that she had worn the first time Ianto had met her. But what really made Ianto's mouth dry and his dick begin to pound in time with his racing heart was the sight of her perfectly lacquered nails wrapped around the familiar, thick cock jutting from between her legs, stroking slowly.

'Hello, Ianto' Helena's low seductive purr drifted through the room.

Ianto walked slowly into the room, unconsciously shedding clothing as he did so, 'Ms Carter,' he croaked.

Helena laughed and she scooted down to the edge of the bed showing Ianto that her puckered hungry hole was already glistening with lube, letting him see that she was ready for anything he wanted to do with her, 'Oh Yan, ' she purred, 'I think, tonight, you can call me Helena.'

Slowly Ianto walked across to the bed, he could not tear his eyes away from his lover. He had no recollection of taking his clothes off but somehow by the time he got to the bed he was naked and so hard. He reached out hesitantly and, taking hold of Helena's stiletto enclosed foot and kissed the top gently, letting his warm breath tease the sheer stocking clad skin; his eyes fastened on to Helena's face, he lifted her foot and sucked the very tip of the heel of the red shoe into his mouth, smirking at the flare of passion and desire he noted in the blue eyes. Climbing onto the bed, Ianto stroked his finger and then his cock up the silken calf of Helena's long legs making her moan softly. Moving up to kneel on the bed between Helena's thighs Ianto took her hands into his own and moved them to his own penis, where Helena continued her gentle, teasing ministrations. Moving slowly Ianto took hold of the thick penis in front of him and carefully tucked the weeping head under the edge of the satin corset. Helena hissed and trembled under his hands. Ianto bent forward and kissed her hard on the mouth making sure to smear her red lipstick, Helena moaned once more.

'Hush' whispered Ianto with a small smile as he carefully and slowly slid himself inside the enticing body now writhing beneath him, 'I have dreamed of this from the moment I watched you walk away from me at Cynnal tŷ pen, wriggling that tight little arse of yours, you are a tease aren't you Ms Carter?' He pulled out and then slammed hard into the hot greedy hole that grasped him and seemed to suck him in. Helena screamed and thrust up to meet him, the stain of her pleasure and release spreading across the satin of her corset as Ianto pounded into her, his vision whiting out as he came; his own orgasm amplified and enhancde as he simultaneously experienced Jack's via their link

* * *

When Ianto woke up, sometime later, Helena was gone. Stretching out in the enormous bed, Ianto could feel that the sheets next to him were cooling; suggesting that his bond mate had been up for some time. Rolling over, Ianto padded across the luscious thick carpet to the Franck windows that were slightly ajar. He could just make out a naked Jack, dark hair still damp for the shower, leaning on the balcony railing gazing intently up at the night sky. Ianto paused for a minute or two relishing the view then made up his mind, moving back into the room to pick up his jacket that he had carelessly discarded in his dazed walk to Helena's bedside. He rummaged in the inside pocket and pulled out the small tissue wrapped item he had collected from his friend Hywel earlier that day. Ianto moved out onto the veranda, smiling a little as he, the man who would not leave the bathroom if he was not wrapped concealingly in a towel, was now confidently standing naked on a hotel balcony. He comforted himself with the thought that he was too high up to be seen by passersby. He snuggled up next to Jack, reveling in the heat emanating from the older man. Jack wrapped an arm around him, pulled him close and placed a soft kiss on his hairline

'Hey sleepy head'

Ianto twisted to plant a kiss on Jack's chest, 'that was amazing...intense' he smiled, then he sobered slightly, 'but, Cariad, what are you doing out here on your own?'

Jack chuckled, and waved an all encompassing arm across the night sky, 'I was trying to work out where we should be married,' he pointed to a star low in the east, 'The planet Elysia 5 is over there, it has three moons and two suns, the waters are pale green and crystal clear and the sands are light purple. You can get married right on the beach and the sea people come into the shallows and sing a blessing for you.'

'It sounds incredible' said Ianto, 'but..Jack..'

Jack continued enthusiastically, 'or we could go to Yeshtarion. The entire planet is covered with sentient trees, we could be married by and consummate the union in one of the celebrant trees. Or there is Dronti, it's an ice planet, the ice palaces are incredible and I would love to see what the light of the blue ice mountains would do to your pale skin'

'Jack...' gently Ianto turned his lover so that they could stand chest to chest, Ianto placed a tender kiss on Jack's mouth, 'Jack I...'

Jack's face fell, 'I'm rushing you aren't I?' he said despondently, 'you have a lot to get your head around and here I am pushing you into marrying me. I'm sorry, Yan'

Ianto laughed and kissed him again, 'Jack, will you let me get a word in edgewise, please!' Jack looked penitent and compressed his lips. 'Thank you' smirked Ianto, 'now; it seems to me that we are likely to be around and together for a long time, yes?' Jack nodded, Ianto continued, 'and I know that you want to show me all the wonders of the universe, so I expect we will have to register as partners over and over again, am I right?' Jack nodded once more. 'So, the one that really counts is the first one' said Ianto, he took a deep breath, released Jack from his embrace and took a step back.

'In that case' he said softly and steadily, 'I want to claim you as my bond mate right here and now. I am a Welshman and I want to stand here in my own city under a Welsh sky and tell the rest of the universe that I, Ianto Jones, man of Wales declare that my love for Jack Harkness of Boeshane is forever and eternal; and promise that from this day forward there will be no other man for me but him. From henceforth my place is by his side and where he goes, I go and my name is...Ianto Harkness-Jones '

Ianto opened his tightly closed hand, in his palm lay a wedding ring that was a beautiful and clever amalgam of red Welsh Gold and blue Welsh granite. His friend Hywel who had been studying design when Ianto was at University studying history had turned into an amazing jeweler who specialised in one off creations. Ianto had known this was the ring he wanted for Jack as soon as he saw it in Hywel's workshop. Ianto took Jack's hand and slid the ring onto his finger, placing a long, soft kiss on the ring. Jack's eyes were sparkling with tears as he tugged Ianto into his arms and kissed him deeply

'But' stammered Jack, 'I don't have a ring for you; you even managed to hide this from our bond so I had no idea'

Ianto smiled, and rested their joined hands on Jacks fully functional vortex manipulator 'that's because tomorrow we will use this to take us to Boeshane where you can buy me a ring made of the precious metal of your planet and make your vows to me under your own sky and your home stars. I want the first planet I visit to be yours, Jack; then wherever in the universe we go, as long as I am Ianto of Wales and you are Jack of the Boeshane our vows will be with us and our bond will flourish.'

Jack smiled although tears were still sliding unchecked down his face, 'Ianto that sounds perfect but...why wait until tomorrow? I could take us to Boeshane now'

'And leave my vows unconsummated?' Ianto sounded shocked

Jack chuckled, 'ah you make a good point, Mr Harkness-Jones 'and he took the hand of the love of his life and led him back into the bedroom.

...the Thousandth Man he's worth 'em all  
Because you can show him your feelings.

**********_Fin*********_

**_A/N -_** _Thank you to everyone who took the time to review this story. Your comments and support are much appreciated._


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